On July 19, Dalian soccer boss Xie Hui talked about his former rivalry with English giants Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp in a five-star soccer program.
Xie Hui, who is affectionately known as "Shelop" by Dalian fans, said frankly: "We all love nicknames, but how far is the distance, who can remember clearly. Some people say it could be the distance from the earth to the moon, or from the earth to the sun, a number we can't even remember. The gap between the Chinese Super League, the Bundesliga and the English Premier League, and I'm tired of hearing people talk about players' nicknames all the time. I don't really like that. Sure, I've played against him twice and he's watched me closely when he's played as a center back, but his playing career and his coaching career are two completely different things. He may not have been as good as me as a player, but as I said, it's two different things. I don't really feel that way about the nickname because it's just the moon in the sky and there's not a lot of comparisons.
"I consider myself an exception and not like the typical Shanghai man. I've traveled a lot, not only around the country, but also spent a lot of time in Germany. In a way, I am not so localized and not quite a Shanghai man in character. I don't think there should be too much emphasis on geography because I've played for a number of teams in the English Premier League, and there are very few English players who are homegrown. The same goes for the Bundesliga, even Munich and Bayern don't have any homegrown players. From this perspective, we may be too obsessed with the concept of localization.
Talking about the soon-to-be-resumed home-and-away system, Xie Hui was full of expectations: "In a city with such a strong soccer atmosphere like Dalian, with such a gold-medal market, it is undoubtedly the most ideal to be able to face the fans at home. As a soccer city, we deserve the biggest support when we play at home, and this support is unparalleled. I have been looking forward to this day."
