With Fabio Cannavaro departing Guangzhou Evergrande in dramatic style on Thursday evening and Luiz Felipe Scolari announced as his successor, Wild East Football takes a look at some of the initial Weibo reaction to the changes.
(This page will be updated throughout the hours ahead)
Guangzhou Evergrande reporter Pan Weili of 3g.cn hinted at the reaction of the Evergrande squad:
“The whole Evergrande dressing room was in shock, full of sadness. Cannavaro will have known a bit before, but it wouldn’t have been long before the players. Ten days ago I asked him if he would ask Lippi for help, but he said the rise and fall of the side is all on him. Whatever the case, Evergrande’s Italian era is over.”
He then suggested more developments to follow:
“Scolari won’t be the last of the earthquake-like revolutions at Evergrande this summer, there are big name foreign players lined up…”
Evergrande striker Gao Lin, enjoying his best scoring run in several seasons under Cannavaro posted:
“This is professional football…”
Former China international and briefly Everton defender Li Weifeng added:
“Professional football is cruel. Nobody cares what you were before, you can only tell yourself and tell others you have a clear conscience. Haha, enjoy life.”
For Zuqiu magazine journalist Zhao Zhen, it is merely a case of history repeating itself:
“Is Evergrande suddenly sacking Cannavaro really strange? Isn’t it just what they did to Lee Jang-Soo? Three years has passed, it’s the same formula and the same feel…”
On Twitter, emotions were running similarly high:
@fabiocannavaro No！Tell me it’s not true！I heard you leave，I really very sad！ I wish you success next.TheBestHandsome pic.twitter.com/NoCgqRZhmO
— 温旭WenXu (@WenXu99) June 4, 2015
@fabiocannavaro I really can’t to say Goodbye at this moment!You do the best in Guangzhou!Just want to say thank you,Fabio!
— Kimi (@Minerva_PaPa) June 4, 2015
So suddenly I can not accept, I will miss you.-Canton fans @fabiocannavaro
— Janto (@Janto1030) June 4, 2015
@fabiocannavaro Thanks for your great coach experience in Guantzhou FC! Best wishes to your new adventures, we will miss you a lot!!
— Jun Guo (@bigheadzen) June 4, 2015
With lots of injuries by now, Cannavaro managed to advance to quarter final in ACL and keep 2nd place in CSL. Great performance for starter.
— GZ Evergrande News (@cantonfcnews) June 4, 2015
And finally, Fabio Cannavaro celebrates Zheng Long’s late equaliser just an hour before his Evergrande departure was announced:
Category: Guangzhou Evergrande, News, Top Stories
Tags: Chinese Super League, CSL, Fabio Cannavaro, Gao Lin, Guangzhou Evergrande, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Weibo
The guy is rewarded for a joint top CSL position and ACL quarter final position, with an extremely limited number of players available, with the sack. Cannavaro clearly took pride in his players and team and, in return, the effort given out on the field has been impressive. Commercialism sucks !