The Ultimate Soccer Thread 2012-2013 Vol. 3 Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga etc

In China, Drogba Draws Crowds and Controversy

By ADAM CENTURY

BEIJING — With five defenders smothering him at the top of the penalty box, Didier Drogba, the former star player for Chelsea in England’s Premier League, calmly slid a lead pass to his new Shanghai Shenhua teammate Cao Yunding, who was dashing full-speed through the box. The nifty pass caught the defenders and the goalkeeper off guard. With a near-open net, Drogba’s teammate hesitated, perhaps perplexed by how easy it had seemed, then fired the ball past the dumbstruck goalkeeper.

Just weeks after scoring the equalizing goal and converting the game-winning penalty kick for Chelsea in the Champions League final, Drogba made an unconventional move by signing with Shanghai Shenhua, a middling club in the scandal-ridden China Super League.

Since his first match for Shanghai on July 22, Drogba, who is originally from Ivory Coast, has quickly emerged as a sensation here. He is tied for most goals on his club — despite having played a third of the games of the player with whom he is tied — and he has drawn record crowds of nearly 25,000 fans — up from an average of 15,000 last year — to home matches at Shanghai’s Hongkou Stadium.

“Drogba has helped make the Shanghai Shenhua team competitive overnight,” said Ma Dexing, the editor in chief of Titan Sports online, China’s largest sports Web portal. “He is upping the level of the entire league because everyone is vying to be better than Drogba.”

Whenever Drogba appears in public, he is swarmed by thousands of fans who cry out one of his Chinese nicknames, among them the African Andy Lau, a reference to the popular Hong Kong movie star, and the Devil Beast, a racially inflected epithet that locals here use without malevolence.

“The Devil Beast is such an incredible force,” said Chen Huiming, an amateur player in downtown Beijing, as he slipped on his cleats to compete on the capital’s Dongdan outdoor field. “It’s almost like he can score on command, he’s so strong and agile.”

Despite the continued excitement, rumors began surfacing in late August that Drogba’s Asian honeymoon might be coming to a premature end. The Oriental Sports Daily and other sports media outlets said that a shareholder struggle at the Shanghai club could jeopardize the financing needed to keep Drogba. Both a Shanghai Shenhua spokesman and a representative from Drogba’s management company repudiated the claims, but speculation has continued.

Even before this recent bout of rumors, Drogba’s Asian adventure was the topic of much controversy in Chinese soccer circles. First, there was his exorbitant price tag: more than $300,000 per week. Many commentators questioned whether the money would not have been better spent on nurturing domestic talent.

“I didn’t come here with the idea of making a lot of money,” Drogba, 34, said in response to accusations of greed. “I came here because of the completely different challenges from what I’ve seen in Europe.”

But a chorus of domestic commentators complain that the acquisition of Drogba is just a superficial face-lift for a government-controlled soccer administration that has been marred by a barrage of embarrassing scandals.

In June, a court in China’s northeastern Liaoning province sentenced two former top league executives to 10 ½ years in prison each for accepting bribes of roughly $190,000. Ten other high-level officials were sentenced at the same time, each receiving punishments that ranged from heavy fines to up to six years in prison.

“Ants are too small to look up and see the trees above them,” said David Yang, a Sports Illustrated China commentator, referring to an ancient Chinese proverb. “Drogba is like an ant — even if he wants to help make the league cleaner, he can’t even see the corrupt trees that grow around him.”

The culture of corruption has indeed proved crippling for Chinese soccer. Though the country has a surging number of young people eager to play the game, the education system provides few opportunities to experiment on the field. Only a fraction of the population is selected to attend special sports academies from as early as 6 years old, while regular students are often explicitly forbidden from playing sports until they reach university, supposedly because it will harm their studies.

“I followed Manchester United religiously throughout high school,” said Li Yuzhao, a university student in Beijing whose favorite player is David Beckham. “But it wasn’t until university that I finally had enough free time to experiment with football.”

In the midst of such deep-seated and systemic problems, some say that the Chinese soccer association has become increasingly dependent on foreign star power to bolster the league’s credibility. Since 2011, dozens of world-class players have come to China, including the Argentine midfielder Dario Conca, the Paraguayan striker Lucas Barrios and Drogba’s Shanghai teammate Nicolas Anelka.

But some soccer analysts are quick to warn that foreign talent will not immediately equal boosted international competitiveness. Ma, the editor of Titan Sports, longs to see systemic changes in the youth soccer infrastructure that will allow children to learn to love the game from a young age, perhaps the way Drogba did in Ivory Coast.

“You can’t build a soccer country in a year or two, or by just buying foreign players,” Ma said. “It needs to be a long-term process that involves all levels of society.”
Click to expand...


Edit:

Rumor floating about

Spanish and Latin American outlets are reporting that a sex tape involving singer Shakira and Barcelona star defender Gerard Pique is being shopped. Rumors about the tape have swirled for weeks — and representatives for Shakira have repeatedly denied its existence, but Spanish magazine Intervieu reports that a Barcelona talent agent was offered the tape for sale
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Heard that Pique and Shakira sex tape story a while ago, Cannot see it, been so much rumours with these 2, Break ups, Pregnancy, sex tapes what next :lol:
 
Carlo Ancelotti insists it was Paris Saint-Germain's project, rather than the money, that lured him and his players to the French capital.


PSG have spent exorbitant sums this summer on attracting the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva and Ezequiel Lavezzi to the club.

However, former AC Milan and Chelsea boss Ancelotti, who took charge of the side in December last year, says the attraction for all who have joined is the opportunity to lead PSG to greatness - and the culinary delights of the capital.

"PSG lured me with the bread!" the Italian joked to La Gazzetta dello Sport. "The things you eat in Paris are not found elsewhere...

"Like all my players, I came for the project, not for the money. I took enough money when I was dismissed by Abramovich at Chelsea."

Ancelotti also spoke highly of the club's key summer signings from Milan.

"Thiago Silva is the best defender in the world," he said. "Nobody has as much concentration, speed, elegance and sense of anticipation. He may be the new Maldini. He lacks a bit of character but that will come with time.

"Ibrahimovic is not arrogant. It's like Pirlo - he has a reputation that does not match how he is seen in the squad. He can be our guide."

Ancelotti also suggested that Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City and Zenit St Petersburg should be considered the most likely Champions League winners, but he hopes PSG can also make an impression.

"I hope to win Ligue 1 and to qualify from the group stage in the Champions League. Then, while we're not the strongest team tactically, the spirit is the key. We must prove ourselves. We need to scare others."
Click to expand...


http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/s...ys-psg-attraction-not-about-the-money?cc=5901
 
Disappointed that Ireland scored twice very late to overcome a 1-0 deficit and beat Kazakhstan.

I had jokes ready to go. :frown:
 
Ireland :pimp:

RVP with a great header :pimp: I mean.. **** that guy! >:
 
Last edited:
Jada2001Retro said:
USA loses, 2-1...to Jamaica. :lol:
Click to expand...

That was brutal :smh: but without Donovan, Dolo, and Bradley I'm not shocked (although a draw should've been the bare minimum result)...they'll still get to the Hex they just better show up in Columbus b/c the midfield was embarrassing tonight (Mo Edu :x) and the forwards didn't see the ball unless they tracked back and won it themselves

This is late but its pretty hilarious regarding Clint's transfer:
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

The ultimate sneaker enthusiast community.

NikeTalk was created as a way of giving back to both the sneaker enthusiast community and to the greater global community of which we are all a part.

NikeTalk is NOT affiliated with Nike Inc. in any way, shape, or form. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Nike, Inc.

© 1999-2024 NikeTalk.com

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom