Scolari’s Evergrande chase Champions League miracle

Stielike takes over at Chinese strugglers

SHANGHAI, Sept 11, (AFP): Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Guangzhou Evergrande must perform an AFC Champions League miracle on Tuesday if they are to overhaul a 4-0 deficit in their quarter-final home clash with Shanghai SIPG.

Evergrande are streaking away from their domestic rivals in the Chinese Super League (CSL) but were embarrassed in Shanghai three weeks ago when Andre Villas-Boas’s side was rampant in the first leg.

Hulk scored from the spot and was a menace throughout as the bustling Brazilian striker made it seven goals in Asia’s premier club competition this season.

Wu Lei also hit a quickfire brace against a Guangzhou side that Scolari admitted afterwards had badly missed key midfielder Paulinho, who swapped China for Barcelona last month for 40 million euros ($48 million).

Muriqui, the Evergrande forward who recently returned to the club where he was a Champions League winner in 2013, said they need to believe they can pull off the improbable.

“It will be hard to turn this match around, but it is not impossible,” the 31-year-old Brazilian was quoted as saying by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) website.

“Coach Scolari asked us to focus right from kick-off until the final whistle and avoid repeating our firstleg mistakes. If we do so, we still have a chance.”

Shanghai trail reigning champions Guangzhou by eight points in the CSL, but Villas-Boas appears to have worked out a way to get the better of the seasoned Scolari in cup competitions.

Shanghai lead Evergrande 2-1 from the semifinal first leg in the Chinese cup, with the return in southern China later this month. But Villas-Boas warned his players against complacency.

“We have to be careful because we are in an advantage in both legs in both cups,” said the Portuguese, who like Scolari is a former Chelsea manager, following last month’s first-leg Champions League rout.

“But we will have two difficult games in Guangzhou and Evergrande are a winning team (two-time AFC Champions League winners) so we will have to be at our best to get through both competitions.”

The winners of the all-Chinese tie will play either Urawa Reds or Kawasaki Frontale in the semifinals.

The Japanese sides play Wednesday with Kawasaki 3-1 up from the first leg at home.

Meanwhile, Uli Stielike has been tasked with saving Tianjin Teda from relegation out of the Chinese Super

Scolari

League (CSL), three months after the German was axed as coach of South Korea.

Underlining the challenge facing the 62-year-old, Tianjin lost 3-1 at second-placed Shanghai SIPG on Saturday and sit one place off the bottom of the CSL with seven games left.

Fellow German coaches Felix Magath and Roger Schmidt are already in the CSL, at Shandong Luneng and Beijing Guoan respectively.

“We look forward under Mr. Stielike’s leadership to being fearless and brave and not giving up, and completing the mission of staying in the league,” Tianjin said in a statement announcing his appointment at the weekend.

“He has rich coaching experience and is good at motivating the team. He also has a certain understanding of Asian culture.”

Stielike was in charge of South Korea from 2014 until his sacking in June following a shock defeat to Qatar that left their World Cup qualification hopes hanging in the balance.

South Korea appointed Shin TaeYong to replace him and last week they sealed a spot at Russia 2018.

Stielike, a former Real Madrid midfielder, takes over at Tianjin from South Korean Lee Lim-Saeng, who stepped down last month after just weeks in the job.

Former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Gus Poyet quit Monday as coach of struggling Chinese Super League (CSL) outfit Shanghai Shenhua after 10 months in the job, the club said.

The 49-year-old failed to inspire a Shanghai side for whom Carlos Tevez has similarly disappointed despite enjoying some of the best wages in world football.

Shenhua were beaten 2-1 at home by Henan Jianye on Sunday to leave them 11th in the 16-team CSL.

Fans turned on Poyet and Tevez in recent months and the Uruguayan, also a former Sunderland and Brighton manager, hinted last month that he was on the brink of quitting.

“I’m proud of having this job but I’m not pleased that I have reached my limit,” Poyet said after a 3-0 home defeat.

Shenhua finished fourth last season in the CSL but have won just six times in 23 league games this term under Poyet despite lavishing a reported 38 million euro ($42 million) salary on the Argentine forward Tevez.

“Mr Poyet filed his resignation to Shanghai Shenhua Football Club today. After discussions, the club accepted Mr Poyet’s resignation,” a club statement said.

“The club sincerely appreciate Mr Poyet and his team’s hard efforts on overcoming the many difficulties and disadvantages in the past year.”