TIBET’S FIRST FOOTBALL CLUB AIMS AT UNITY, STRUGGLES FOR CHINESE PLAYERS
DORTMUND, Germany: Andre Schuerrle rescued Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) with an 87th-minute equaliser to seal a 2-2 draw with Real Madrid and deny the Spaniards a rare Champions League win in Germany.
win in Dortmund in six attempts, and the result means the defending champions have won only four times in 30 away games against German clubs.
Madrid took the lead when Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 95th Champions League goal early on.
Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was credited with the equaliser just before the break af
But the French international enjoyed secondhalf redemption when he stabbed home on 68 minutes before Dortmund leveled in the dying stages.
“If you come back twice against Real Madrid, that’s a nice feeling. That will help the team to grow together,” said Schuerrle, who had come off the bench to equaliser.
“When you concede three minutes from the end it hurts, especially given the effort the players put in,” said Real coach Zinedine Zidane.
Ronaldo had been left fuming after being substituted by Zidane for 2-2 draw at Las Palmas in La Liga.
And the superstar chose to celebrate his goal at Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park with his Portugal teammates Fabio Coentrao and Pepe, who were on the Real bench, with Zidane in the background.
Dortmund dominated the opening quarter of an hour before Ronaldo’s opener and both
Matthias Ginter gave away a freekick just outside the area and Ronaldo’s powerful shot was blocked by Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki.
At the other end, Gonzalo Castro’s well-struck shot tested Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas, - ance of the season after injury.
Ronaldo was lucky that the referee failed to spot his clear handball from an Aubameyang free-kick shortly after, and teenage French winger Ousmane Dembele
But Real took the lead when Ronaldo finished sweeping move.
Luka Modric and Karim Benzema combined to get the ball out of their own half.
When the ball was played into the Dortmund area, James Rodriguez fed Gareth Bale who played the ball back between his legs for Ronaldo to sweep his shot home on 17 minutes.
At the other end, Aubameyang clipped the bar and was pulled up for offside on 29 minutes before a bullet header from defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos was too close to Navas.
But Dortmund kept up the pressure and drew level on 43 minutes when Navas opted to punch out a Raphael Guerreiro free kick.
The ball rebounded into the net Aubameyang in close proximity, although the Gabon striker was
The equaliser was lucky, but it was no more than Dortmund deserved.
Just before the half-time whistle, Ronaldo’s header hit the back went up for offside.
Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel introduced Schuerrle for Germany’s World Cup-winner Mario Goetze on 58 minutes in what proved to be an inspired switch.
Real took the lead a second score after a Benzema attempt had struck the post and the bar.
But Dortmund was not done, and when Aubameyang’s attempt at an overhead kick distracted Danilo, the ball brushed off his chest and into Schuerrle’s path as the equalizer. off a
Green jersey soaked Luosang Sanzhu practices his passing on the manicured pitch of Lhasa FC,
club—the latest gambit to soothe lingering tensions between Tibetans and Han Chinese.
Officials hope the highest club in China, which was established last year, can break down barriers in the mountainous region, where relations with Beijing have sometimes been strained since its “peaceful liberation” in 1951.
“In the club today, there’s no discrimination. The atmosphere is great,” said Tibetan player Luosang, a former gym teacher who has emerged as one of the team’s leading lights.
One problem: at 3,700 meters ( 12,140 feet) above sea- level, altitude sickness is a constant hazard for non-Tibetans—and is deterring Han Chinese players.
- mitted club president Cidan Duoji, an ethnic Tibetan. “They think that it’s dangerous to play football here because of altitude sickness.”
Native Tibetans have adapted over generations to the lack of oxygen at high altitudes, which can cause headaches, vomiting, insomnia, or fatigue, and makes playing
Consequently, only 10 percent of Lhasa FC’s squad are Han Chinese, although members of the ethnic group are numerous elsewhere in the regional capital, which sits on the Tibetan Plateau.
“Lhasa FC... is a place of cultural exchange for the two communities,” said Cidan, surrounded by the club’s red mascots. “We want to show that Tibet can also be a place for sports,” he added.
Troubled past
The club’s stadium may be one of the most remote in China but it is also among the most picturesque, with its main stand facing the snowy peaks of the Himalayas.
The tranquil setting belies a troubled past.
Tibet in 1951 after four decades of de facto independence for the Himalayan territory.
Since then, many ethnically Han Chinese immigrants— the country’s largest group by far— have moved to Tibet, where they remain a minority.
In 2008, demonstrations by Tibetan monks in Lhasa degenerated into deadly violence targeting Hans before being quelled.
Many Tibetans accuse Beijing of exerting heavy control over their Buddhist religion, diluting their culture, and exploiting natural resources at the expense of the environment.
Although Lhasa FC lacks diversity on the pitch, the hope is that having a team in a national league will make Tibetans feel more integrated into China.
Lhasa FC currently play in China’s amateur league, the country’s fourthtier football competition and a world away from the moneyed Chinese Super League with its millionaire players and tycoon owners.
While Luosang, 29, earns 5,000 yuan ($750) a month for his role in the team, a good salary in Tibet, Super League clubs have spent a collective $400 million euros ($450 million) buying players this year.
Nevertheless, Cidan is bullish — perhaps hoping that Lhasa’s altitude will give his team an advantage in home games.
“We hope to reach the Chinese Super League and even beat Guangzhou Evergrande!” he said, referring - ons and double Asian title-holders.
Political football
Soccer arrived in Tibet at the beginning of the 20th century with the British army, but before Lhasa FC’s founding the vast region was bereft of clubs.
“Football is booming now, with a growing number of competitions organised every year,” says Luosang.
China has previously used sport as a political tool, including the “ping pong diplomacy” of the 1970s and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where China showcased its newfound economic might.
China is also embracing football like never before, with President Xi Jinping heading a drive to host and even win the World Cup —a tall order for a country which is now just 78th in the FIFA rankings, sandwiched between Saint Kitts and Nevis and Guatemala.
Overseas or exiled Tibetans have also looked to the sport as a way to promote their cause. Last year, a women’s team of Indiabased Tibetans played Chinese university students at a tournament in Berlin.
And a ‘Tibet national team’ not the self-declared Tibetan government in exile -- which resides in India and opposes Beijing’s rule -- has played dozens of matches against other nonrecognised teams since 2001.
Their results have been mixed, with losses to Greenland (1-4), Provence (0-22), and Gibraltar ( 0- 5), but a win over Western Sahara (12-2).
Just like China’s top clubs, such as Guangzhou Evergrande and Jiangsu Suning, Lhasa FC has a corporate founder: the Tibet-based state-owned enterprise Pureland, which sells local specialities including traditional medicines and mineral water.
“But running a club in Tibet is economically risky,” notes Jin Shan, a sports columnist. “The region has few developed cities, and the football market is still small.”
“In short, the return on investment is far from guaranteed.”
The members of the Lhasa Pureland Football Club pose for a group picture at their football stadium in the regional capital Lhasa, in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Officials hope the highest club in China, which was established last year, can break down barriers in the mountainous region, where relations with Beijing have sometimes been strained since its “peaceful liberation” in 1951.