Windy Shao

SHENZHEN Shangqingyin soccer team coach Zhang Jun has insisted that his players tried their best even as Shenzhen completed a disappointing season, finishing the second from bottom in the Chinese Super League (CSL) after losing 4-1 to champion Changchun Yatai at home Wednesday night.

“We achieved our goal of avoiding relegation two rounds in advance, we have tried our best and I am personally satisfied with the result,” Zhang told the Shenzhen Daily in a telephone interview Thursday.

“The first thing we will do is to have a good rest, then we will have a meeting discussing the team’s future and players’ changes,” he said.

Zhang said he was satisfied with the performance of Shenzhen’s four foreign players: Poles Marek Zajac and Bogdan Zajac, and Africans Kamate Dramane and Bamba Moussa.

Dramane scored Shenzhen’s only goal against Changchun.

“Marek has improved a lot, getting more used to the conditions here, and the two African guys were very aggressive in their performances this season,” Zhang said.

However, Zhang’s own future is under a cloud, according to the Shenzhen Evening News. Yang Saixin, head of the Xintaishun investment firm, which owns the Shenzhen team, was seen angrily shouting at Zhang in front of thousands of fans at the Shenzhen Stadium after the home team trailed 4-1 in the first half.

Apart from on-field disappointments, Shenzhen was also dogged by financial troubles this season. The team received 13 million yuan (US$1.75 million) from main sponsor Guangzhou Xiangxue Pharmaceutical Company, and another 6.8 million yuan from a local milk company, the tightest budget in the CSL.

After the Guangzhou soccer team, also sponsored by Xiangxue, was promoted to the CSL for next season, there are doubts whether Xiangxue will continue to sponsor Shenzhen.

With the team having slumped from the 2004 champion to one of the league’s whipping-boys, few are willing to speculate what the Shenzhen team’s future looks like.

Windy Shao

SHENZHEN Shangqingyin soccer team coach Zhang Jun has insisted that his players tried their best even as Shenzhen completed a disappointing season, finishing the second from bottom in the Chinese Super League (CSL) after losing 4-1 to champion Changchun Yatai at home Wednesday night.

“We achieved our goal of avoiding relegation two rounds in advance, we have tried our best and I am personally satisfied with the result,” Zhang told the Shenzhen Daily in a telephone interview Thursday.

“The first thing we will do is to have a good rest, then we will have a meeting discussing the team’s future and players’ changes,” he said.

Zhang said he was satisfied with the performance of Shenzhen’s four foreign players: Poles Marek Zajac and Bogdan Zajac, and Africans Kamate Dramane and Bamba Moussa.

Dramane scored Shenzhen’s only goal against Changchun.

“Marek has improved a lot, getting more used to the conditions here, and the two African guys were very aggressive in their performances this season,” Zhang said.

However, Zhang’s own future is under a cloud, according to the Shenzhen Evening News. Yang Saixin, head of the Xintaishun investment firm, which owns the Shenzhen team, was seen angrily shouting at Zhang in front of thousands of fans at the Shenzhen Stadium after the home team trailed 4-1 in the first half.

Apart from on-field disappointments, Shenzhen was also dogged by financial troubles this season. The team received 13 million yuan (US$1.75 million) from main sponsor Guangzhou Xiangxue Pharmaceutical Company, and another 6.8 million yuan from a local milk company, the tightest budget in the CSL.

After the Guangzhou soccer team, also sponsored by Xiangxue, was promoted to the CSL for next season, there are doubts whether Xiangxue will continue to sponsor Shenzhen.

With the team having slumped from the 2004 champion to one of the league’s whipping-boys, few are willing to speculate what the Shenzhen team’s future looks like.