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TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2020 31
SHANGHAI (AFP) - China coach Li
Tie has revealed the psychological
toll coronavirus took on the national
football squad during a ive-week
training camp prolonged by
the pandemic.
Li’s men spent much of March
in Dubai, where many Chinese
Super League (CSL) teams also
took refuge, before returning home
when the outbreak began to subside
in China.
Chinese media previously
reported that the squad were
mentally fatigued by a combination
of practice, quarantine and being
away from their families for so long
at a dificult time.
Coronavirus emerged in central
China in December before spreading
worldwide and has torpedoed
football seasons - and sport in
general - all over the globe.
“With the epidemic situation in
Dubai worsening every day, the
number of guests in our hotel was
decreasing day by day,” Li told
Chinese television.
“The other Chinese Super
League teams who had been
training there returned to China one
after another.
“During that time, all our
players and staff were under great
psychological pressure.
“Everyone was anxious, homesick
and worried about our own safety.”
After struggling to ind a light,
Li’s squad left Dubai on March 23
and lew to the Chinese island of
Hainan for quarantine and more
training, according to Xinhua
news agency.
The players, who all tested
negative for coronavirus, only
returned to their clubs last week to
Head coach of the Chinese men’s football team Li Tie. PHOTO: XINHUA
China’s football
squad left ‘anxious,
homesick’ by
coronavirus
prepare for the CSL season - but that
has been indeinitely put back.
Former Everton midielder Li had
gathered his side for World Cup
qualiiers onMarch 26 and 31 against
the Maldives and Guam before they
were postponed.
Brazilian-born striker Elkeson was
the only naturalised player in the
training squad but Li said he will not
be afraid to call up other foreign-
born players.
“Undoub t ed l y na t u r a l i sed
players can make the national team
stronger,” Li said.
“As far as I am concerned, more
naturalised players will joinmy team,
provided that they are willing to
serve the team.”
Li believes that the 2022 World
Cup qualiiers will resume inOctober
or November, although there are no
conirmed dates.
Li replaced Marcello Lippi after
the ItalianWorldCupwinner abruptly
quit in November following defeat to
Group A rivals Syria.
The loss left China ighting to
keep their 2022 hopes alive, eight
points behind table-toppers Syria.
RIO DE JANEIRO (XINHUA) -
Former Brazil manager Luiz Felipe
Scolari said on Sunday he is
considering several offers to coach
in Asia.
The 71-year-old has been out of
work since last September, when
he was sacked by Palmeiras just
nine months after leading the club
to the Brazilian Serie A title.
“There have been inquiries from
three or four clubs from the Middle
East,” Scolari told TV Globo. “We
still don’t know what will happen,
but I believe that in 15, 20 or 30
days a decision will be made,”
he added.
Since guiding Brazil to victory
at the 2002 World Cup in Japan
and South Korea, Scolari has held
coaching roles in ive different
countries. Among themwas a spell
as Portugal boss and a second stint
in charge of Brazil.
His most successful job at club
level was his time with Guangzhou
Evergrande from June 2015 to
November 2017, which included
t h ree consecu t i ve Ch i nese
Super League titles and an Asian
Champions League crown.
In November, Scolari told
Xinhua that he missed Chinese
football and expressed a desire
to return to coach there in
the future.
Former Brazil coach Scolari
considering return to Asian football
MADRID (AFP) - Spanish La Liga
side Real Sociedad said last Sunday
that they had shelved plans to
resume training from today after
talks with government oficials.
Like all other clubs, Sociedad
players have been in lockdown
sincemid-March as the coronavirus
has wreaked havoc on the country,
causing almost 17,000 deaths.
“After today’s discussions with
(local oficials), and in accordance
with Real Sociedad’s desire to
respect and act according to the
needs of society at all times, we
have decided to continue with the
individual work of our players as it
has been developed so far,” said
the club.
“Therefore, the players will
continue to work at home.”
Real Sociedad insisted last
Sunday that they had never
intended to resume group training,
but simply to offer the possibility to
players of doing “individual work”
on its premises.
The Spanish club said it was
“working on developing a return
to work” for its players but that
it would always be done “while
respecting the security measures
established by the authorities”.
Sociedad backtrack on training return
RIO DE JANEIRO (XINHUA) -
Sampdoria have joined the race
to sign Vasco da Gama midielder
Andrey Ramos, according to
Brazilian media reports.
Andrey is also understood to
have attracted the interest of
Turkey’s Galatasaray, who have
already made a formal bid for the
22 year-old, the Lance news service
reported on Sunday.
Sampdoria are 16 th in the 20-
team Italian Serie A, which has
been suspended since March
9 becau s e o f t he co rona -
virus outbreak.
Left-back Dodo is currently
the only Brazilian in the Genoa
club’s squad.
And r e y, who p r e v i ou s l y
represented Brazil at youth level,
has made 72 league appearances
for Vasco since his professional
debut in 2016.
Italian club Sampdoria eye
Brazilian midfielder Andrey
BEIJING (XINHUA) - The International
Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) CEO
Steve Dainton revealed on Sunday
that theworld table tennis’ governing
body is considering individual World
Championships cancellation.
Themove is relevant to a possible
busy schedule in the future as the
newly-established World Table
Tennis (WTT) plans to have three to
four “Grand Smashes” every year.
“These events (Grand Smashes)
will be equal to or larger than aWorld
Individual Championships. With
three to four ‘Grand Smashes’ per
year, we would be overstretching
and confusing the calendar and
market if we also have a World
I nd i v i dua l Champ i on s h i p s ,”
Dainton wrote in his letter, called
A message of hope, to all table
tennis stakeholders.
“The three to four major events
held on the International stage
throughout each year will reach a
larger audience and will perform
much better than once every two
years. From these events, we would
also be able to deine an individual
world champion,” he added.
Starting in 2003, individual
events for table tennis World
Championships have been held in
odd years, while team events in
even years.
The ITTF announced in March
that the WTT will introduce a brand
new event structure in 2021. As
planned, there are up to four Grand
Smashes every year with a 10-
day span for each tournament,
ITTF mulls over cancelling
individual World Championships
as Grand Smashes approach
International Table Tennis
Federation CEO Steve Dainton.
PHOTO: XINHUA
featuring the top 64 men and top 64
women players.
Also in the structure are WTT
Champions Series, WTT Cup
Finals, the Star Contender and
Contender Series.
For Dainton, “this approach
would allow for a clearer line to be
drawn for each of the platforms.”
“TheWorld TeamChampionships
and the Olympic Games, with
the team competition as a key
component, will remain under the
responsibility of the federations,
while the professional platform can
focus on the growth of the individual
events, allowing our sport to pursue
the real table tennis stars in the
future,” he mentioned.
Table Tennis