in the just-concluded
China Super League (soccer league)
Shanghai Seaport and Cangzhou Lions drew 0-0 in the 12th round of league matches. After the match, Harbour Head Coach Leko said, "We played well in the first half and created many chances, but unfortunately we couldn't capitalize on them; in the second half, our opponents showed a high level of performance and the situation on the field was quite stagnant. 0-0 is a little bit of a hopeless situation, because we deserve to win more." Despite the result of the match, there was a happy note for Leko.
Harbour's starting lineup was exactly the same as the previous game against the Tsimshatsui Tigers, with core players such as Paulinho, Xu Xin, and Yan Junling failing to play due to injuries and family reasons, while Stanley Wong continued to sit on the bench, and new center backs Jiang Guangtai and Li Shuai failed to make their debut as well.
According to Leko, Paulinho's absence is not the key to the team's problems on the offensive end: "It's not Paulinho's problem alone, we created enough chances during the game, whether he was on the field or not. He's been a little less fortunate this year, with fewer goals and assists on the attacking end, but I don't want to talk about individual players, except to say that the players who have been training with the team have been very active, and they deserve more credit than they've been getting. As long as we keep training hard, I'm sure we'll see improvement in the next few weeks." The best news to come out of the Harbour is the imminent return of Wu Lei.
Wu Lei visited his mentor Xu Genbao on Chongming Island today after yesterday's welcome ceremony. The two talked about Wu Lei's experience in Spain and his new insights into the development of Chinese soccer.
According to the latest news, Wu Lei will depart from Shanghai tomorrow (September 2) with the club staff for the Dalian tournament. Wu Lei is expected to return to Harbour ahead of schedule to join up with the team, which is good news for head coach Leko.
Due to the impact of the epidemic in Dalian, the Harbour team originally planned to return to Shanghai on September 2, but has now decided to play it safe and not move for the time being. Wu Lei said he will first go to Dalian to join the team, according to the development of the epidemic, and then make the next plan. Tomorrow at noon, Wu Lei will depart with the club staff, and if all goes well, will arrive at the Dalian tournament in the afternoon. Wu Lei also said that he is looking forward to reuniting with his teammates and hopes to win the championship again.
