Daily Briefs Humpday: Aussie takeover continues

takes a look at all the big Chinese sports news stories so you don’t have to. Yes, I’m still alive despite the (literally) choking pollution in Beijing the past few days, the air is better, my mood is better, and  I’m once again sharing the many stories from Chinese football with you. Hat tip from Roon, a Roar fan for part of our opening story, this can indeed be interactive folks, so feel free to share any great stories you have with us and I’ll try to get them in the briefs!

–Lots of foreigners are coming and they are from the Australia. Brisbane midfielder Erik Paartalu has signed a two-year deal with Tianjin Teda. Michael Marrone, Melbourne Heart defender, appears to be very close to signing with Shanghai Shenxin (though some in the media are wrongly reporting he’s going to Shenhua). Jonas Salley, a Gold Coast midfielder who spent 2012 with Shenxin, has signed with Guizhou Renhe. With a number of other teams still missing Asian players, expect more Aussies to make the trip north.

–Surprise! Dalian Shide has registered with the CSL for the 2013 season. Just when you thought it was all over, well, it ain’t. Here’s a decent story from Chinese media (gasp!) about the situation. Also, expect to hear more from soon.

–Guangzhou R&F fans rejoice! The “other” Cantonese side’s returning to Yuexiushan this season. I’m not a Fuli fan but I’m certainly happy about it, look forward to that away trip.

–Preseason action all over the place: Evergrande beat local Guangdong third division side 5-0 with Elkeson scoring in the match, Shandong Luneng beat Hangzhou Greentown 2-0, Beijing Guoan won handily (4-0) over Chongqing Lifan, while Wuhan Zall lost 0-1 to Henan Construction.  However, in this match Henan captain Lu Feng went down with a very bad injury. The Shanghai teams are staying away from the other CSL sides who are congregating in Kunming, with East Asia going to Spain (and showing up at Barcelona) and Shenhua’s in Argentina (where they played River Plate).

–The Chinese national team and U22s are both in Spain as well, though having varying degrees of luck there. The national team took on a Spanish Segunda Division B club (the Spanish third division) and proceeded to lose 2-0 to that side. Que up media reports and fan attacks. The next day, the U22’s tried to save face by playing a Spanish fourth division club‘s U18 side, trouncing them 9-0, leading to even more guffaws among the weibo-ratti.

–Guangzhou Evergrande season tickets went on sale Friday, with fans lining up days before. Lines wrapped around Tianhe Stadium for the tickets, which ranged from RMB600-1300 for the 20,000+ that were put on sale. If you missed out, you’ll get a second chance on February 2nd as 2,000 more will be sold, just make sure to line up early!

–Speaking of Evergrande, their recent “cooperation” with R&F may continue. Rumours are that R&F is doing their darndest to become Evergrande lite and sign yet another red, Zhao Xuri, though word is Lippi doesn’t want to part with this player.

–Beijing Guoan is reported to be chasing Rapid Bucharest defender Vladimir Bozovic.  That said, Francois Senne is back in camp and it looks like Guoan will be giving him another chance. Also, if you believe the rumors that were flying around in Kunming, there were scouts who liked the cut of youngster Xu Wu’s gib.

–The Chinese women’s team beat Korea today. It was their first win of the four team tournament, also including Canada and Norway, currently taking place in China.