Former Chinese captain Li Weifeng has been a well-known figure in Asian football for a number of years. He is soon set to notch over 100 caps for his nation and, as the new Chinese Super League season gets into its stride, is hoping to lead Shanghai Shenhua to a first title since 2003 and China qualify to the 2010 World Cup. He found time to talk about China, Shanghai and his short stint with Everton. What happened in the recent World Cup qualifier against Australia? It was a really good chance to defeat Australia, half of their starting eleven didn’t come to China. Our target in the game was to get three points and we tried our best to win, but we were unlucky. It not the fault of one person, the whole team is responsible. Does China have to win the next game? Will China qualify? We should win and we will. If we end up with three draws from three games, it would mean that we have lost six points. If we win the next game, we will have a good chance qualifying. If we don’t win, it won’t be the end of the world. We will fight to the end. What were your thoughts on Australia? They are very strong physically and many of them play in Europe. Australia is a strong team. Can Shanghai win the title this season? Shanghai has always been one of the teams that challenges for the title. If we win the games that we should win, then we will have a good chance. How can Chinese football improve? More and more of our talented players should go to Europe. There they can improve their skills, gain some experience and get the most important thing of all --confidence. The China national team seems to be getting a reputation as a physical team. is this correct? No, I don't think so. You also have the same reputation... The physical condition is the basic element of playing football. Besides I think I also have good skill and, actually no one thinks that I'm a piece of wood in the defence line. What happened at Everton? Why did you only play one game? You know, it is often hard for a foreigner to communicate with the coach of the team and this is such an important aspect. I once studied football in Brazil, learning some Portuguese, but no English. At Everton, the coach and myself couldn’t communicate properly or exchange ideas. And then I picked up an injury which didn’t help matters. When I first went to the club, I said to myself: ‘If I can't get a starting position in three months, I will leave without any hesitation.’ Mr Moyes wanted me stay, but he all he could do was keep telling me to ‘wait.’ But you know it's hard for a coach to change his defence... Do you have happy memories of your time in England? Of course. Beside the result, I don't think my experience in UK was a waste of time. I still think the style I play is something that learning from England. I felt I grew up there, experiencing more and more. It's was a good experience! Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile.com Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

It was the first game of the season and for Shanghai Shenhua it was a pretty good start. A comfortable 2-0 win against Shenzhen Shangyangin put the 2003 champions on the right track from the off. With the Chinese Super League expanded to 16 teams in 2008, there are another 29 games remaining for the club. It was a chilly Saturday night at the Hongkou Stadium but Shanghai attacked from the beginning. The breakthrough game midway through the first half when former Celtic loanee Du Wei headed home powerfully from a corner. Shenzhen did their best to get back into the match but the boys from the south are a shadow of the team that won the 2004 title. A lack of investment and problems off the pitch has seen Shenzhen struggle ever since that success. The game was over as a contest early in the second half as Shanghai added a second. The rest of the match petered out but Shenhua played some good stuff. There is a long way to go but everybody went home happy. The fans headed home on one of the two subway stations that are within a stone's throw of the stadium. Though there is no need to rush off as there are a host of restaurants surrounding the complex and the neighbourhood and its pubs are worth exploring. Copyright: Soccerphile and John Duerden Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

With the Chinese season just kicking off, hopes are high among all the major contenders that this will be their year. This is certainly true of Shanghai Shenhua, one of the powerhouses of football in the Middle Kingdom.. The team ended a turbulent 2007 in fourth place, not a bad achievement for a season that started with a controversial merger with Shanghai United. Coach Wu Jingui was coach of Shenhua before the merger, was shipped out fr a few months and then returned to his old job later in the season. At Shanghai Shenhua’s large training camp deep in the south of this sprawling city, he talked to John Duerden. How do you feel about the new season? Always before a new season, the feeling is the same. We are excited, a little bit nervous and we also have a vision about the season ahead. We will be stronger this last year. We have some new foreign players. We have bought three new overseas players and have kept one from last season. We had a good pre-season, we trained in China and then went to Japan and played a lot of friendly games. We have improved our training and our organization. Which teams will be your challengers this season? Dalian Shide, Shandong Luneng, last year’s champions Changchun Yatai are all strong teams and we expect a challenge from Beijing and Tianjin.The usual! Any dark horses? Chengdu have been promoted last season and have brought in a lot of experienced players and they could have a good season. You watched the North and South Korea game. What did you think of it? It was a good game. Both teams are at a high level and high class, especially South Korea. They are very compact. Both teams fight for everything but South Korea are at a higher level. How about China and Australia? We had a really good chance to win this game. They came without many of their key players and after a long journey. The start of the season was delayed to accommodate the national team. Is this a problem? For my part, it gives us more time to prepare for the new season but the football association also needs to think about the clubs. If you could change one thing about Chinese football, what would you do? We need to look at the Premier League, they changed lots of things and improved lots of things. They brought in good coaches for example – Alex Ferguson from Scotland, Arsene Wenger from France, Benitez from Spain, Mourinho and Ramos from Valencia. These are all foreign high-level coaches who bring a lot of things to the country. If we want to progress and improve, we have to bring in high-level coaches from outside and learn from them and help them improve Chinese football. We have had foreign coaches before but didn’t profit from that. Before 1990, we were amateur. But now every year I go to Germany or England and try to learn something new. How about the strengths and weaknesses of Chinese players? Chinese players are good physically but we have to change the way we play. We have good players but we need good coaches to improve them. We have quality players but not like Japan or Korea. Why are Japanese and Korean players better? They have been playing longer and at a higher level. In China we changed the system in 1992 and the people have to change their minds. We have to put new things in their heads. Is Chinese football improving? Each year it is improving but it is hard to make the big step, to reach a certain level. If you want to do so, we need to change. It is like the High Jump, once you reach two metres 20, it is difficult to jump higher but that is what we must try to do. What kind of team is Shanghai? We are a good team. Last year a new boss came, he brought us a lot of new things. Now we are feeling good. In 2007, Shanghai United merged with Shanghai Shenhua. After that, you left. How did you feel? For me, every season is full of pressure so it was good to get the chance to relax. I went to England and Argentina to watch football. You came back later. How did that happen? We were always in contact and then we met with the board to talk about football and the team. Why did they ask you to return? There were a lot of candidates and the club talked to a lot of other coaches but I knew the team and the club. I am Chinese and knew what we needed – in my head at least! You had so many players, around 50, how did you deal with that situation? I had over 50 players. The foreign coach didn’t know the players that we important for the team and what the team needed. We tried to do the best for the players – which ones to keep and which ones we should let go. Copyright: Soccerphile & John Duerden Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting