DIDIER DROGBA DELIGHTS IN SHANGHAI |
| Didier Drogba in action for Shanghai Shenhua |
Didier Drogba has lit up the Chinese Super League over the last month. With many criticising the Ivory Coast international for ditching Europe and in their words chasing money Drogba has proved he's serious. In his four matches Drogba has scored 2 goals, albeit in the one match.
Shanghai recently put Hangzhou to the sword 5-1. On that night Drogba picked up his double, while classy new Columbian import Giovanni Moreno picked up his second goal in Shanghai colours and Aussie striker Joel Griffiths also picked up one. Shanghai certainly does have an international flavour and while it seems a tough ask (given the 9 point margin between them & ACL spots), it's every promoter's dream that this club makes its way back into the ACL as soon as possible. Can you imagine Drogba and co. arriving in Australia to take on Central Coast Mariners or Melbourne Victory? Can you imagine Drogba and co. arriving in Tokyo to take on Urawa Reds, or even heading over to Sendai?
There is no doubt these are exciting times in Asian soccer. We can only hope that the current political issues engulfing the area don't escalate to the point that they affect the world of sport, because at the moment the place is buzzing.
LEWDUB REFUSES TO RETRACT STATEMENTS
Yes the J League continues to bemuse and confuse, however, this blogger (LewDub) refuses to retract his statements about who will win the J League title. Yes, Urawa slipped up against mid table Kobe. Yes, Sendai slipped up against cellar dwellers Sapporo. Yes, Kashiwa Reysol could only manage a draw against FC Tokyo, but Sanfrecce Hiroshima were able to snare three points away to Omiya. The latter result emphasises my point in previous postings that of these four teams, not every one of them can slip up to the point that none of them win the title.While Yokohama F Marinos have made up considerable ground to be six points off J League leaders Hiroshima. Now 14 matches undefeated, the Kanagawa team has certainly surprised many with their run, after looking more like relegation material earlier in the season. But being the student of probability that I am 14 matches undefeated also means defeat is getting closer. This week Yokohama play local rivals Kawasaki who themselves will still be holding on to dreams of an ACL spot as they sit just 4 points off automatic qualification.
Check out the highlights of Yokohama's most recent outing against Niigata:
