Sports

Drogba, Anelka Put Chinese Football On The Map

Published

13 years ago

January 11, 2013

If you ever have reason to seek out a video clip of the moment Didier Drogba arrived in China, make sure you turn down the volume.

In scenes reminiscent of Beatlemania, the former Chelsea striker emerges through the sliding doors at Shanghai airport to be greeted by ear-splitting screams. He is ushered through a vast swathe of Shanghai Shenhua fans, who chant his name, wave the team’s flag and compete for a vantage point from which to snap a photo of their new hero.

Drogba is clearly a little taken aback as the crowd swells to an even greater number outside the terminal building before an increasingly flustered-looking troop of security guards bundle him into a car and away.

China’s 16 Super League teams for the 2013 season are all based in the populous east of the country

The Ivory Coast forward has teamed up with former Chelsea strike partner Nicolas Anelka at Shenhua in a league which, thanks to the financial power of wealthy club owners , has also tempted ex-Premier League strikers Ayegbeni Yakubu and Fredi Kanoute.

It is also being touted as a possible destination for former England captain David Beckham and Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, while World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi also works there, steering Guangzhou Evergrande to their second straight title in October.

“The Chinese Super League, or at least a handful of clubs, are awash with money from club owners, who are often developers riding the huge property bubble in mainland China,” said a sports reporter at the South China Morning Post, James Porteous.

“Guangzhou Evergrande are owned by Evergrande Real Estate Group, whose chairman Xu Jiayin is mainland China’s richest man.

“Why these men want to spend their money on football is another question. Part of it is no doubt love for football and the wish to be associated with a successful team. But some believe owners are trying to curry favour with the government. Bringing new global prestige to the game may help the owners look good with the powerbrokers.”

Courting politicians comes at a price, Drogba reportedly earns £200,000 per week, with Anelka on about £170,000. In contrast, their team-mate Feng Renliang, a 24-year-old winger who plays for the China national team, was on a salary of £70,000-a-year before he joined champions Guangzhou in December.

And yet, while Drogba and Anelka have helped raise the profile of domestic football in a country obsessed with the Premier League, they have also exposed some of the enduring problems that may cause Lampard and Beckham to think twice before heading east.

During a tumultuous first season, Shenhua coach Jean Tigana turned up to a match only to be told his services were no longer required. With Tigana’s backroom staff having been sacked earlier in the week, the team were forced to play the game in front of a virtually empty home bench.

The famously introverted Anelka then had a disastrous spell as player-coach before former Argentina boss Sergio Batista was handed the reins against the Frenchman’s will.

The club, owned by internet tycoon Zhu Jun, finished a disappointing ninth in the 16-team league amid reports that Anelka and Drogba are in dispute over unpaid wages following a shareholders’ dispute at the club. Anelka has since been linked with a return to the Premier League, while Drogba is reportedly a target for Italian giants AC Milan and Juventus.

According to former Manchester City and Celtic striker Chris Killen, who has been playing in China since July 2010, their experiences are typical of an unstable and chaotic footballing infrastructure.

“A club can change hands, change owners or change names in the middle of the season,” the New Zealand international told Tidesport source.

“That is the situation at the moment with my club Chongqing. They are currently being bought out so it’s a little bit up in the air as to where I will be playing next season. A new sponsor might come in and move them to Beijing.”

Killen, who signed for Super League club Shenhzen Ruby after being released by Middlesbrough and subsequently moved to Chongqing in the division below in February, said the disorder can also affect players’ day-to-day routines.

“In the UK, I was used to getting up at nine for training at 10, but when I arrived here we would only be told the time of training the night before,” he said.

“There was a lot of money but not a lot of organisation and it kind of showed on the football field. It was free-flowing football but there was no structure.

“The majority of players over here have never learnt the basics from day one. You get talented youngsters who can go past four or five players and put it in the top corner, but come a set-piece they don’t know how to mark.”

China’s first professional football league was founded in 1994 and drew average attendances of more than 20,000 for its first few seasons. However, by the time it was replaced by the Super League in 2004, match-fixing and gambling scandals had prompted many fans to turn their backs, with attendances plummeting to about 10,000.

In 2009, Chinese authorities launched a campaign to reform the sport, leading to the arrest of dozens of referees, players, officials and coaches. The country’s most successful referee – Lu Jun – was jailed for five and a half years for match-fixing in February, while two ex-heads of the football league were handed 10-and-a-half-year sentences for corruption in June.

Sheringham writes for BBC sport

Sam Sheringham

Sports

Arsenal must win trophies to leave legacy – Arteta

Published

1 day ago

January 12, 2026

The Tide

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said that the Premier League leaders must win trophies if they were to be remembered like the “Invincibles” side that last won the title for the Gunners in 2004.

Arsene Wenger’s side romped to the title 22 years ago without losing a single league game.

Arsenal headede into last night’s clash at home to reigning champions Liverpool with a five-point lead at the top of the table after Manchester City and Aston Villa dropped points against Brighton and Hove Albion and Crystal Palace, respectively on Wednesday.

Arteta’s men, runners-up for the past three seasons, have two more points and four more goals than Wenger’s ‘Invincibles’ managed after 20 games.

But the Spaniard said those stats matter little unless Arsenal go on to win the league.

“No, because ‘the Invincibles’ won a lot,” Arteta told his pre-match press conference on whether his side can be considered better than Arsenal’s last title winners.

“They won consistently, and they created a history and a legacy, and we have to do that.”

The lone major piece of silverware won by Arsenal in six years under Arteta remains the 2020 FA Cup

“There are a lot of stats, but in the last two or three years we have managed more points and more goals than ever before. But at the end, we have to translate that to major trophies,” he added.

“Probably doing what we are doing now would have been enough (in 2004), but now it’s not, and we have to make the margins even bigger.”

Arsenal lost 1-0 to Liverpool at Anfield back in August in what was billed as an early showdown between title rivals.

The defending champions headed to the Emirates 14 points off the top after a difficult second season for Arne Slot, but Arteta insisted the Reds remain a superb side.

The Gunners were without sidelined defenders Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera but were“monitoring the load” on Kai Havertz as the Germany forward intensified his training while continuing to recover from a long-term leg injury.

Sports

AFCON: Osimhen, Lookman Threaten Algeria’s Record

Published

1 day ago

January 12, 2026

The Tide

Nigeria sharpshooters Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman will provide a stern test to the flawless record of Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane, a son of French football icon Zinedine Zidane, in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals in Morocco.

Zidane is the only first-choice goalkeeper amongst the eight quarter-finalists to have kept a clean sheet in all of his tournament matches so far, but the task facing him in Marrakesh tomorrow will not be easy.

Former African player of the year award-winners Osimhen and Lookman have tormented defences during the tournament, scoring three goals each.

Zidane, 27, kept clean sheets in group matches against Sudan and Burkina Faso before being rested against Equatorial Guinea.

He was recalled for a last-16 clash with the Democratic Republic of Congo and once again was unbeaten during a dramatic extra-time victory.

Former Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, his Spanish wife and another son have been among the crowds in each match Luca played for the Desert Foxes.

“It is special when your family come to watch,” said Luca Zidane, who began his career with Real Madrid B in 2016 and now plays for Spanish second-tier side Granada.

Born in France, Zidane represented his country of birth at five age-limit levels. Under FIFA rules he could also play for Spain or Algeria, where his grandparents were born.

Zidane chose Algeria, debuting in a 2026 World Cup qualifying victory over Uganda last November and, when an injury ruled first choice Alexis Guendoez out of the AFCON, he was promoted.

“I am proud to represent Algeria and play in the Africa Cup of Nations. It is a great experience,” he told reporters.

“I try to be myself, to build my career on my terms, step by step,” he said.

Algeria have been an AFCON bogey team for Nigeria, winning four and drawing two of nine meetings, including a 5-1 drubbing of the Super Eagles en route to winning the 1990 tournament at home. But the current Super Eagles appear to be in the mood to get this one over the Algerians.

The Desert Foxes have put successive group-stage exits behind them under Bosnian coach Vladimir Petkovic and substitute Adil Boulbina unleashed a thunderbolt to eliminate DR Congo.

Nigeria are the 12-goal leading scorers in Morocco with Osimhen, Lookman and Akor Adams forming a potent frontline.

But coach Eric Chelle will be concerned that the three-time champions have conceded four, the most among the eight title hopefuls.

Sports

Palace ready To Sell Guehi For Right Price

Published

1 day ago

January 12, 2026

The Tide

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has said that the club would sell captain Marc Guehi this month if his asking price is met.

The England defender is out of contract in the summer and Manchester City have emerged as contenders to sign him during the January transfer window.

Palace blocked a proposed £35m move to Liverpool last summer but risk losing the 25-year-old for nothing at the end of the season.

City’s interest in Guehi has progressed following injuries to defenders Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias during Sunday’s draw against Chelsea.

“I’m not naive,” said Glasner, as reported by Tidesports source. “If a massive offer comes from City and Marc wants to do it, it will happen.”

Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid are among the European clubs to have shown an interest in signing Guehi on a free transfer, and he can sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club from this month.

“If you’re just valuing sports, everyone in the club will say Marc has to stay,” Glasner added. “The chairman will tell you the same. But it’s not one-dimensional. If you see the financial situation, it’s very important.

“If somebody comes, there will be a moment when the club says ‘now the financial issue is more important than the sports issue’.

“There will be a threshold where the club has to say it will happen, as long as Marc says ‘I want to leave’, because the final decision is always with the player.”

Guehi helped Palace finish 12th last season and win the FA Cup to qualify for Europe for the first time in the club’s history.

The Eagles then won the Community Shield in August, beating Premier League champions Liverpool on penalties, and are 14th in the table and through to the knockout phase play-offs in the Uefa Conference League.

“The chairman rejected many offers in the summer because we want to play a successful season and wanted to win the Community Shield,” Glasner added. “Therefore, Marc is important, and then he rejected the offer.

“The threshold at that time, the money we got offered was not above it. Maybe it was close, but it was not above.”