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November 14, 2018

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Stable squad the key as SIPG eyes 2019 CSL crown

CHINESE Super League champion Shanghai SIPG has set its sight on a repeat title in 2019 with a “stable squad”.

The team claimed its maiden CSL crown with a 5-point advantage over defending champion Guangzhou Evergrande, ending the latter’s seven-year dominance of the top-tier league.

At a year-end gala on Monday evening which featured club members, city government officials and fan representatives, head coach Vitor Pereira expressed his determination to lead the team to another title next year. “This was an excellent season for us. With the support from club and city officials, we will continue to fight as a family and win the city another title next year,” said the Portuguese.

“Breaking a seven-year dominance of another team is not easy, but we had more desire coming into matches,” Pereira replied when asked about the team’s secret in beating major rival Evergrande both at both home and away en route to the championship.

SIPG has been one of the biggest-investing teams in the league, especially over the past four years, recruiting world-renowned names like players Oscar (60 million euros or US$67.7 million ) and Hulk (55 million euros) as well as former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas.

Coming into the 2018 season armed with the Brazilian trio of Oscar, Hulk and Elkeson, as well as local striker Wu Lei, meant that SIPG had the strike-force to plunder goals, while a bunch of local players, cultivated at veteran coach Xu Genbao’s academy, reached their peak.

“A stable squad was the key to our championship this year,” club president Chen Xuyuan said during a speech at the gala. “The squad will remain comparatively stable for the next few seasons, while we will also pay more attention to new blood like the U19 and U21 players.”

Brazil midfielder Oscar said in an earlier interview that he would most likely complete his contract with SIPG before thinking of a transfer.

The former Chelsea star joined SIPG two years ago on a four-year deal. This year, he contributed 12 goals and 18 assists — the most assists among all players.

With two more years left on his contract, Oscar said he has been enjoying life in Shanghai. Despite some potential interest from English Premier League clubs, the playmaker said he would prefer staying at SIPG.

As captain, Oscar’s compatriot Hulk also has no reason to leave the club in the near future and he has said on several occasions that he wanted to lead the club to an AFC (Asian) Champions League title.

SIPG’s national striker Wu became the CSL top scorer this year with a total of 27 goals, six more than second-placed Changchun Yatai striker Odion Ighalo of Nigeria. What gave Wu more pride was that the next 15 top scorers in the CSL were all foreigners.

“To be frank I had never thought about becoming the CSL top scorer given the fact there are so many good foreign strikers in the league,” said the 27-year-old. “Last year I scored 20 goals and it was already a good figure. This year we became even stronger as a team. The coaches know me well and gave me an opportunity to try different positions.”

Wu said his most memorable goal was the decider he scored in SIPG’s victory away to Chongqing Lifan during the 19th round of the CSL.

“That was a crucial round, as both Evergrande and Beijing Guo’an lost their matches. My goal in injury time helped the team to rebuild the advantage at the top of the standing, and boosted our confidence. So for me that match was a turning point of the season.”

Wu had been the top domestic scorer in the CSL for five straight seasons before having the tag “domestic” removed this year. “All teams have foreign strikers now, leaving little space for domestic forwards. But most teams still have one or two positions for domestic players at the front. What we can do is to try to merge ourselves into the foreign players’ playing patterns.

“As for myself, I have good adaptability and I am good at finding and creating opportunities,” Wu said, adding that his next goal was to take his good form into the national team and contribute more.




 

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