Chinese footballers move to Brazil for extra polish

Porto Feliz, Brazil: Arriving in Brazil, Chinese footballer Long Yushuo took on the more easily pronounced name Thomas, but it’s the locals’ skills with the ball that he’s really hoping to adopt.

Thomas, 16, is one of a squad of youth players from Chinese team Shandong Luneng dispatched to polish their game at Desportivo Brasil club in Porto Feliz, near Sao Paulo, which Shandong bought in 2014.

The idea is that the 22,400- mile ( 36,000- kilometer) round trip will enable these youngsters to bring back something that all the money and desire in China’s burgeoning football scene cannot otherwise get — Brazilian footballing magic.

When Thomas and another 22 players from the under- 16 side arrived from Jinan, capital of Shandong province, in April, they knew little of Brazil.

Along with football practice, they study Portuguese in the quiet town of 50,000 people. But Thomas, who picked his name in honor of Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller, is clear about what his principal lesson has been in Porto Feliz.

“Technique,” he said, alongside his team mates, who all wore Shandong’s orange strip.

MONEY CHASING TALENT

China may not have much footballing pedigree but, encouraged by President Xi Jinping and lavish spending, it is working to catch up quickly.

Luneng, a subsidiary of the chief national electricity company, is one of the big investors in the expansion plan, which has made China the world’s fifth biggest transfer market in 2016.

Of all the foreign imports to the Super League, the 21 Brazilian players comprise the biggest contingent.

The national team, though, has yet to see much benefit. China lags in 60th place in Fifa rankings and did not qualify for next year’s World Cup.

So China’s strategists decided to try to unpick the secrets of Brazilian football so that the next generation can get the missing edge.

PATIENCE

For the youngsters in Porto Feliz, where Brazilian and Chinese flags fly side by side, the future should be bright.

“This the group the Chinese government wants to serve as the core of a team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the World Cup in 2022. We have a heavy responsibility,” Pignataro said.

The same might be said for the whole Chinese experiment, but Zhao Shuo, a 25- year- old assistant coach, says he’s ready to take the time.

He’s spent two months following his Brazilian counterparts around and says the only area where is he might have the advantage is in the iron discipline associated with Asian teams.

“Football needs time because it’s a kind of education and education is not a short- term thing. Maybe we will need 10 or 20 years or more,” he said in English, pointing to Japan as an example.

“We have to learn from our neighbours and be patient,” he said, never taking his eyes off the action on the field.