Chinese Super League - 2011 Season Preview

Zhang Bin, a keen fan of Chinese Football, has put together this preview of the 2011 Chinese Super League season which kicks off this weekend.  

Guangzhou Evergrande striker Muriqui


The 2011 season of the Chinese Super League (CSL) will kick off this weekend.

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) also decided to re-establish the FA Cup in the 2011 season. The CFA hoped to build the FA Cup into a football gala that includes not only professionals, but also amateur teams.

Last years' Division 1 Champions Guangzhou Evergrande, became the team to watch in the upcoming CSL season as they spent the most money in transfer market, spending $17.8m in a series of dazzling signings.

Guangzhou Evergrande signed three new Brazilian players, including defender Paulo Marcos de Jesus Ribeiro (Paulo, 25 years old) from Gremio on a four-year contract worth $3.4m, Striker Cléverson Gabriel Córdova (Cléo, 25 years ols) from Serbian Superliga club Partizan on a a four year contract worth $4.3m, midfielder Renato Adriano Jacó Moreira (Renato Cajá 26 years old) from Botafogo on a four-year deal worth $2.2m, together with Brazilian Striker Luiz Guilherme da Conceio Silva (Muriqui 24 years old), who joined Guangzhou on a four year deal worth $3.4m last year, scoring 13 goals in 14 appearances for Guangzhou last season.

Lawrie McKinna will become the first Australian
to coach in the Chinese Super League



In terms of "AFC player", South Korean midfielder Cho Won-Hee (27 years old), who played for South Korea National team in 2006 World Cup, joined the club on a annual salary of $750,000 on a long-term contract.

Five Chinese National Team players joined Guangzhou in off-season, including defender Feng Xiaoting from K-League club Jeonbuk Motors, defender Zhang Linping from Shanghai Eastasia, striker Jiang Ning from Qingdao Jonoon, goalkeeper Yang Jun from Tianjin Teda and defensive midfielder Yangha from Beijing Guo'an.

Together with former Chinese National Team captain Zheng Zhi, striker Gao Lin and defender Sun Xiang, Guangzhou now has the most expensive squad in CSL.

Defending Champions Shandong Luneng signed Brazilian striker Manoel de Brito Filho from Atlético Mineiro on a transfer fee of $3.4m, and Brazilian defender Renato Assis da Silva from Sao Paulo with a transfer fee of $1.5m.

Fomer Nagoya Grampus Brazilian Striker Davi José Silva do Nascimento joins Beijing Guo'an on a one-year loan worth $1.5m from Qatari club Umm-Salal.

16 CSL clubs signed 65 foreigner players before the off-season transfer deadline as of March 24, including 22 "AFC Players", 21 players from Brazil, 9 from Australia and 8 from South Korea. Shenzhen Ruby signed Japanese striker Seiichiro Maki and midfielder Takashi Rakuyama, who become the first Japanese players to play in the CSL.

CSL 2011 Foreigner Players List

Shandong Luneng
DF Renato Silva (Brazil)
MF Roda Antar (Lebanon AFC)
FW Obina (Brazil)
MF Julio César de León (Honduras)
DF Ricardo (Cape Verde)

Tianjin Teda
DF Marko Zori (Serbia)
MF Kwon Jip (South Korea AFC)
FW Obiora Odita (Nigeria)
FW Luciano Olguín (Argentina)

Shanghai Shenhua
FW Duvier Riascos (Colombia)
FW Luis Salmerón (Argentina)
MF Facundo Pérez Castro (Argentina)
CB Abdulkader Dakka (Syria AFC)
DF Juan Camilo Angulo (Colombia)

Hangzhou Greentown
CB Adam Griffiths (Australia AFC)
FW Luis Ramírez (Honduras)
FW Matías Masiero (Uruguay)
MF Paulo Pezzolano (Uruguay)
MF Sebastián Vázquez (Uruguay)

Beijing Guo'an
MF Darko Matić (Coroatia)
FW Joel Griffiths (Australia AFC)
FW Walter Martínez (Hoduras)
FW Davi (Brazil)
FW Roberto (Brazil)

Dalian Shide
FW Martin Kamburov (Bulgaria)
FW James Chamanga (Zambia)
FW Ahn Jung-hwan (South Korea AFC)
MF Jeon Kwang-Jin (South Korea AFC)
CB Kim Jin-kyu (South Korea AFC)

Liaoning Whowin
MF Vladimir Bogdanovic (Serbia)
FW Valdo (Brazil)
LB Dean Heffernan (Australia AFC)
DF Kim You-Jin (South Korea AFC)

Henan Jianye
MF Lee Joon Yeob (South Korea AFC)
FW Leandro Netto (Brazil)
DF Fabao (Brazil)
MF Rômulo (Brazil)
MF Thiaguinho (Brazil)

Changchun Yatai
FW Nei (Brazil)
MF Savio (Brazil)
MF Radomir Koković (Serbia)
MF Anzur Ismailov Husanovich (UzbekistanAFC)

Shanxi Chanba
MF Fabio Firmani (Italy)
DF Dino Djulbic (Australia AFC)
FW Wilson Rodrigues Fonseca (Brazil)
DF Milos Bajalica (Serbia)
FW Tomá Oravec (Slovakia)

Jiangsu Sainty
DF Eleílson (Brazil)
MF Paolo de la Haza (Peru)
FW Bruce Djite (Australia AFC)
DF Alex Wilkinson (Australia AFC)
FW Cristian Danalache (Romania)

Shenzhen Ruby
FW Chris Killen (New Zealand)
FW Seiichiro Maki (Japan AFC)
MF Takashi Rakuyama (Japan AFC)
FW Rakovic (Slovenia)
MF Janez Zavrl (Slovenia)

Nanchang Bayi
DF Ko Jae-Seong (South Korea AFC)
FW J. Ramis (Uraguay)
FW D. Vera (Uraguay)
MF Johnny (Brazil)

Qingdao Jonoon
MF Ildar Magdeev (Uzbekistan AFC)
DF Leonardo (Brazil)
DF Gabriel Melkam (Nigeria)
FW Eber Luis (Brazil)

Guangzhou Evergrande
DF Cho Won-Hee (South Korea AFC)
DF Paulo (Brazil)
FW Cléo (Brazil)
MF Renato Cajá (Brazil)
FW Muriqui (Brazil)

Chengdu Blades
FW Brendon Santalab (Australia AFC)
DF Adam Kwasnik (Australia AFC)
FW Gyawe Jonas Salley (Australia/Cote d'Ivoire AFC)

Transfer expenses (according to Chinese media)

 

Club	Amount Spent (AUD)
Guangzhou Evergrande	$18.25m
Shandong Luneng	$7.6m
Tianjin Teda	$4.56m
Shanghai Shenhua	$4.56m
Shanxi Chanba	$3.6m
Jiangsu Sainty	$3.6m
Beijing Guo'an	$3m
Hangzhou Greentown	$3m
Liaoning Whowin	$3m
Nanchang Bayi	$3m
Henan Jianye	$3m
Changchun Yatai	$2.28m
Dalian Shide	$2.28m
Qingdao Jonoon	$2.28m
Shenzhen Ruby	$2.28m
Chengdu Blades	$1.52m

2011 CSL Coaches

Club	Coach	Country	Salary (per year)
Shenzhen Ruby	Philippe Troussier	France	$1m
Beijing Guo'an	Jaime Pacheco	Portugal	$800,000
Guangzhou Evergrande	Lee Jang-Soo	South Korea	$760,000
Shandong Luneng	Branko Ivankovic	Croatia	$500,000
Shanxi Chanba	Milorad Kosanovic	Serbia	$500,000
Changchun Yatai	Shen Xiangfu	China	$304,000
Hangzhou Greentown	Wu Jingui	China	$304,173
Jiangsu Sainty	Ján Kocian	Slovakia	$425,100
Tianjin Teda	Arie Haan	Netherlands	$400,000
Henan Jianye	Kim Hak-Beom	South Korea	$400,000
Dalian Shide	Park Seong-Hwa	South Korea	$400,000
Qingdao Jonoon	Chang Woe-Ryong	South Korea	$280,000
Shanghai Shenhua	Xi Zhikang	China	$121,000
Liaoning Whowin	Ma Lin	China	$121,000
Nanchang Hengyuan	Zhu Jiong	China	$60,835
Chengdu Blades	Lawrie McKinna	Australia	Undisclosed