David Beckham is touring China as the country's first global football ambassador. His duties include promotion of the Chinese Super League, which has recently suffered from several major match-fixing scandals, promotion of the game within China and just being David Beckham. With that last task in mind, he's been combining the two things he does best as he criss-crosses China: wearing suits and playing football.
Frank Lampard-Photo by Chris Brunskill/Getty Images
Frank Lampard is set to depart Stamford Bridge this summer and while his next stop is yet to be determined, it will not be Chinese side Guizhou Renhe. The England international recently turned down a£20 million move to rejoin former Chelsea teammates Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba in the Chinese Super League.
Wang Dalei China's Fallen Star Begins To Shine Again is a post from: Just Football
It's not all about Drogba and Anelka in Shanghai. Just Football's man in China Andrew Crawford reports on the re-emergence of a local talent:
The Chinese Super League is down to the final three games of the 2012 season and whilst most eyes have been on the expensively acquired foreign signings now plying their trade in China, others have been watching the redemption of one of its most promising but frustrating players, Wang Dalei.
In the beginning, MLS was a little league that merited little notice internationally. Â On occasion
an all star went overseas and their previous career was noted by pundits, but MLS itself was paid
little heed by the Sky Sports of ...
Visit http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com for the rest of the story.
Shanghai East Asia FC: A new young hope for football in China is a post from: Just Football
These are exciting times for Shanghainese football. Not just because of Shanghai
Shenhua's brash, noisy acquisitions of Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba but because lower
down a division, another team from the city, Shanghai East Asia are within
touching distance of promotion to the Chinese Super League.
China: Football, rivalry and identity in the Middle Kingdom is a post from: Just Football
In his article-cum-essay, ‘From the Capital To Beijing; Angry Youth On Guoan's
Terraces', the always excellent blogger ‘bcheng' talks about the cultural importance that
Beijing Guoan has to the natives of current home;
Getting into a top university is hard and even if one does what's needed, it's still very
possible they'll graduate and enter the ranks of the unemployed or, at best, underemployed.
Meanwhile in China... is a post from: Just Football
by Andrew Crawford, in China
Another Chinese transfer window, another big name signs with Shanghai Shenhua.
This time, Didier Drogba will be the man flying into Shanghai Pudong Airport to be
greeted by loud pockets of Shenhua supporters covered in face paint and clutching home-made
banners.
Last week, former Blues ace Didier Drogba announced via his website that he had signed a two and
a half year deal with Shanghai Shenhua FC of the Chinese Super League.
The announcement ended the hopes and dreams many Americans shared of Drogba potentially making a
move to the States to join Major League Soccer.
Shambles in Shanghai: Tigana, Tantrums and Anelka as manager is a post from: Just Football
by Andrew Crawford
The Chinese Super League (CSL) is once again watching its most noisy tenant,
Shanghai Shenhua, soak up all the attention. Its big name manager, Jean
Tigana is gone, replaced, or rather deposed, in headline-grabbing style by Nicolas
Anelka, who will now try to rescue the club from its plunge into the bottom half of the
league.
2012: Rise of the Chinese Football Empire? is a post from: Just Football
Following the arrival of Nicolas Anelka and Jean Tigana at Shanghai Shenhua, the Chinese
Super League (CSL) has received more attention in a month than it has previously done in
almost a decade.
The CSL itself is coming up to its ninth year as China's top league since it superseded the
Jia-A League in 2003.
NICOLAS Anelka's departure from Chelsea to Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua
got me thinking: how far the game has evolved in the world's most populous Country?
Ever since the formation of China's top flight division in 1994 and its subsequent re-branding
10 years later (From the Jia-A League to the Chinese Super League), the
far-east nation has pumped vast sums of money into its Football Association and the results of this
are now beginning to show.
Shimuzu S-Pulse (in orange) currently lead the way in Japan's "J League"
With the FIFA World Cup only days away the three biggest leagues in Asian football are taking a
break ahead of the big kick-off in South Africa on Friday, June 11th. Although China has failed to
qualify for the FIFA World Cup the Chinese Super League has taken a break until July 14th along
with Japan's J League whilst the South Korean K League returns three days later
on July 17th.
Just yesterday Richard Scudamore, head of the Prem, sat himself in front of a bevy of reporters,
not at all influenced by the fact that he was on a block-building mission in Beijing, and touted
the Chinese Super League as the new blossoming world power - the one which may come to rival
Europe's heavyweights [.
Have you ever been so frustrated with your team's fortunes that you just want to give up watching
football altogether? You know the feeling. One man in China certainly does. Mei Nansheng - also
known as "the iron trumpet" - was apparently a huge fan of his local team F.C. Wuhan. But
Wuhan has had all [.
Former Chinese captain Li Weifeng has been a well-known figure in Asian football for a number of
years. He is soon set to notch over 100 caps for his nation and, as the new Chinese Super League
season gets into its stride, is hoping to lead Shanghai Shenhua to a first title since 2003 and
China qualify to the 2010 World Cup.
Nike Football has unveiled innovative microfiber polyester club kits derived from recycled plastic
bottles at a ceremony at the Guangzhou Opera House. The kits are made exclusively for the 2012...
Defending Chinese Super League champions Beijing Guoan F.C. have officially unveiled the Nike 2010
home kit. Owned by the Chinese government and its subsidiaries, Beijing Guoan have long been a
powerhouse in Chinese soccer. Their team roster features several Chinese internationals along with
players from Australia, Bosnia, Cameroon and Scotland.
Didier Drogba was voted the Chelsea's greatest ever player in an online poll conducted by Chelsea Magazine and this week he collected his award. Beating out club legends like Peter "The King of Stamford Bridge" Osgood, Chopper Harris, Gianfranco Zola, Bobby Tambling, John Terry and Frank Lampard, Drogba said that he felt the honor was perhaps "too big" for him.
Chelsea star Frank Lampard is being linked strongly with a move to China this January, with reports suggesting that the Blues' refusal to offer him a new long-term deal may trigger his departure from the club.
Lampard, 34, captained the team to their maiden Champions League triumph in the final against Bayern Munich last season but less than six months removed from that historic night at the Allianz Arena, the midfielder finds himself in stagnating contract talks.
Frank Lampard could soon follow in the footsteps of former teammates Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, as he is flirting with the possibility of joining a Chinese club in the near future.
Chinese club Guizhou Renhe confirmed Monday they were in talks with the England international over a possible deal that could see him join the Chinese Super League in January.
Arsene Wenger has downplayed media reports linking Arsenal with a shock move for former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.
The Ivory Coast international, who now plays for Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua, is purportedly looking to come back to European football, having grown tired of his current club's internal problems.
Liverpool has been forced to end their pursuit of reported target Didier Drogba after the former Chelsea striker pledged his future to Shanghai Shenhua. The Reds were rumoured to be keen on taking the Ivorian on loan in January but he has now made it clear he would prefer to stay in China and would not be returning to England.
Chinese club Ghangzhou Evergrande have made a statement of intent for the year ahead by
appointing former FIFA World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi to take charge of the team.
Lippi takes over a club who are in fine health having won their maiden Chinese Super League last
season and leading ten games into the current campaign with 22 out of 30 points (seven wins, one
draw, two defeats), one more than nearest challengers Ghangzhou R&F.
Having even the remotest interest in Shanghai Shenhua should probably come with a health warning. When I die a decade prematurely, blame it on the side from the Hongkou stadium for weakening my heart and badly damaging my sanity. Shenhua is a dangerous interest to have. Believe me, its lots of fun but if you can, enjoy it in moderation.
Shanghai Shenhua is a Chinese Super League soccer club from Shanghai, China. The club is a
perennial title contender on the Chinese domestic scene with runner-up finishes in the 2005, 2006,
2008 Super League seasons and a 3rd place finish last season. Over the years Shangai Shenhua has
featured former Germany and Bayern Munich striker Carsten Jancker, [.
With anticipation mounting for the Nike World Cup 2010 kit collection (the Brazil away kit has
already been launched), here's another Nike 2010 design from the Orient. This time it's from
Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua F.C. Once featuring former Germany and Bayern Munich
man Carsten Jancker and 1998 World Cup finalist Júnior Baiano, Shanghai Shenhua [.
With the Chinese season just kicking off, hopes are high among all the major contenders that this
will be their year. This is certainly true of Shanghai Shenhua, one of the powerhouses of football
in the Middle Kingdom..
The team ended a turbulent 2007 in fourth place, not a bad achievement for a season that started
with a controversial merger with Shanghai United.
New data from FIFA shows that Major League Soccer past the 6 million fans mark for the first time this season.
Total attendance for MLS games was 6,072,854. The game in the U.S. continues to show strong growth as the MLS broke through the 4 million barrier in 2010 and 5 million in 2011.
With an average attendance of 18,807, MLS ranks seventh in the world by that metric.
It might not seem like it sometimes, but the guys running the office at MLS HQ in New York are actually doing some pretty smart things. For one, they've managed to break yet another record this year with the league surpassing all other attendance records set by previous leagues in addition to finally cracking 6,000,000 fans in a single season.
Chinese authorities aren't fooling around when it comes to punishing those who fix soccer games.
While some countries give out shorter sentences for murder, China sentenced a former member of its
soccer association on Feb. 18 to 12 years behind bars for taking bribes and fixing the outcome of
games.
The 2011 Chinese Super League has reached the two-thirds stage and the fate of this season's
newcomers Ghangzhou Evergrande and Chengdu Blades is one of stark contrast. The former, who won
promotion last season as League One winners, are the team that currently leads the way in the
Chinese Super League whilst the latter are, like most promoted sides, struggling at the bottom of
the 16 team league.
Chinese company Dalian Wanda is set to provide considerable financial support to Chinese soccer
through a comprehensive agreement with the Chinese Football Association (CFA)
Respect campaign has not yet reached Far East We already know that there are some bizarre goings-on
in Chinese football, but at least we now know they retain a sense of irony. On the day the Chinese
Super League (CSL) observed FIFA's international Fairplay Day, there were boots thrown at referees,
spitting at referees and verbal abuse [.
David Beckham is likely to become an international ambassador for the coming 2013 Chinese Super League (CSL), the Beijing Youth Daily reported. Zhu Qilin, CEO of the company that runs the Chinese league, said that it is almost certain that Becks will be the CSL international ambassador, although some procedures still need to be completed.
Malaga and Paris Saint-Germain, Guangzhou, Sporting Gijon, Bixente Lizarazu plus the Copa
America & the summer's other tournaments. Game Intelligence has forsaken a holiday to monitor this
summer's football news. Here are five things that happened whilst you were lying on the beach...
Big trouble .
This footage from the Chinese Super League suggests a novel way to resolve arguments over whose
throw-in it is: Just introduce a second ball and then both teams can take it.
(Someone has decided to title this video "Soccer Throw FAIL", because apparently everything on
the internet has to be titled FAIL in some way.
Honduran midfielder Emil Martínez capped off a successful year by winning the Player of the
Year award in the Chinese Super League. Martínez, who plays for Shanghai Shenhua, was the
focal point of the Shenhua attack, scoring eight goals and leading the club to a second-place
finish in the League. Next year, he will play in the Asian Champions League as he and Shenhua will
attempt to improve the sorry record of Chinese clubs in that competition.
