Didier Drogba To Shanghai Is Official… As Soon As Drogba Decides It Is [UPDATE]

Drogba puts torch-carrying duties over Shanghai team announcements
Shanghai FC Shenhua has a problem with prima donnas, specifically one Nicolas Anelka, currently the highest paid player in the Chinese Super League. Last month, according to the Telegraph, he threatened to quit the team, whining, “If there is still no one to support me and (they) continue to play little tricks behind my back…... Read more »

Some Guo’an Soccer Fans Lost Their Minds After Saturday’s Scoreless Draw In Beijing

Jaguar at Gongti 2
Proving that hell hath no fury like a soccer fan whose team just earned an unexpected result, Beijing Guo’an fans poured into the street outside Workers Stadium — a very, very busy street, mind you — after Saturday’s 0-0 draw to Qingdao Zhongneng and acted like riotous hooligans. Although the “near-riot,” as Global Times describes... Read more »

Sideline Video Of A Professional Football-Soccer Goal

The morning after Beijing Guo’an defeated Guizhou Renhe F.C. Moutai Football Team (thank you, sponsor) 2-1 at Workers Stadium, Guo’an’s B team played a barnburner against Renhe’s B team at an isolated little pitch outside South Fourth Ring Road. I happened to be there, and in the minute that I happened to be recording, Guo’an... Read more »

Shanghai Shenxin And Qingdao Soccer Players Skirmished Yesterday On National TV, But Does Anyone Care?

Shanghai-Qingdao 1
Youku video for those in China after the jump. In the 82nd minute of last night’s Shanghai Shenxin vs. Qingdao Jonoon Chinese Super League soccer match, which was televised nationally on CCTV-5 (and simulcast on Beijing’s biggest local station, BTV), Brazilian striker Antônio Flávio of Shanghai gratuitously kicked the legs out from under Qingdao’s Zheng Long... Read more »

Every Anelka Touch In His Chinese Super League Debut (And Every Goal From The ‘National Derby’)

Every Anelka Touch In His Chinese Super League Debut
The most expensive player in Chinese soccer history made his belated Super League debut yesterday in Beijing after sitting out last week's CSL opener with a knee injury. About 51,000 people packed Workers Stadium to see it. Even without Anelka, the 33-year-old striker nicknamed "Le Sulk" during his time at Arsenal, the game probably would have drawn massive interest, considering it was the National Derby, played between hated rivals Beijing Guoan and Shanghai Shenhua, and it was Beijing's home opener. But Anelka's presence, at the very least, piqued the attention of international media.

Anelka And Shanghai Shenhua FC Are In Beijing Tonight, And This Is Why You Should Root Against Them

Anelka and wife
So... the French. Their language sounds like a bit of old pudding being forced through a keyhole. Their attitude and manners are somewhere between a toaster and mildly mentally-deficient groundhog. And their only useful purpose, as far as I can see, is keeping the Germans away from the Spaniards, who seem really quite nice. The French are rubbish.

‘You Just Made A French Concession!’ And Other Heckles For Anelka At Tonight’s Beijing Guoan Home Opener

Charles Platiau / Reuters
Before you go racing to Workers Stadium though, you should know Anelka — the former Chelsea and French national team star — may not play tonight due to injury (game-time decision). Also, you may not want to chant “French Concession,” considering the last guy who used that phrase publicly got fined 47,500 yuan. And really,... Read more »