Official 2008 CSL thread [R]

[greenlion]

Champions Changchun Yatai slipped to a third successive defeat, losing 3-2 at Guangzhou Pharmaceutical. The win takes the newly promoted team into fourth. and Changcun are now down to 12th on the table


Round 6 results May 2nd & 3rd

Shenzhen 0-0 Beijing
Tianjin 3-1 Chengdu
Qingdao 1-1 Changsha
Guangzhou 3-2 Changchun
Dalian 1-1 Wuhan
Liaoning 1-2 Shaanxi
Zhejiang 0-0Shandong
Shanghai 2-0 Henan

GP P
1. Shanxi Baorong 6 14
2. Shanghai Shenhua 6 13
3. Tianjin Teda 6 11
4. Guangzhou Yiyao 5 10
5. Chengdu Blades 6 10
6. Shandong Luneng 5 9
7. Qingdao Jonoon 6 9
8. Beijing Guoan 5 8
9. Henan Jianye 6 8
10. Dalian Shide 6 6
11. Liaoning FC 6 5
12. Changchun Yatai 5 4
13. Shenzhen Shangqingyin 6 4
14. Changsha Ginde 6 4
15. Wuhan Guanggu 6 4
16. Zhejiang Lucheng 6 2

[dav1878]

Guangzhou doing well for a newly promoted team so far.

[VillaPhoenix]

Powerhouse state not so much a footballing powerhouse.

[NUFCMVFC]

They now have CSL games shown through the AFC website, just saw the second half of Beijing Guoan vs Shanghai Shenhua, Shagnhai winning 2-0, not a bad game

[NUFCMVFC]

Chinese football would ''shame'' Bird's Nest (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=582097&sec=global&cc=3436)

BEIJING, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Beijing's national Bird's Nest stadium will not stage local soccer matches next year as its managers fear the Chinese league's low standing could sully the iconic Olympic venue's image, local media reported on Wednesday.

Chinese Super League (CSL) runners-up Beijing Guo'an had shelved a plan to play home games there next season, as the stadium manager said it would host only ''high quality'' events, the Beijing Evening Post said.

''We don't want to put any shame on the Bird's Nest,'' club owner Guo'an Group's vice president Luo Ning was quoted by the paper as saying.

''The Bird's Nest is certainly great. But currently, Chinese football does not deserve it,'' Luo said.

Both the stadium and club are owned by Guo'an Group's parent company CITIC Group.

Since qualifying for the 2002 World Cup finals, China have struggled. Fans have turned away from the game in droves, disillusioned by match-fixing scandals and poor crowd behaviour.

They were knocked out of the Asian qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup finals earlier this year, while the Olympic team failed to advance beyond the group stage at the Beijing Games in August, prompting criticism in local newspapers.

Luo added that Guo'an's average attendance of 10,000 spectators would not make good use of an 80,000-seat stadium.

The venue's manager, National Stadium Co Ltd, said it wanted to stage showcase events, such as international athletics meetings and soccer matches for big-brand clubs like Real Madrid.

''The Bird's Nest won't host low-level (Chinese Super League) matches to destroy our own brand,'' its president Li Hang told Xinhua news agency in a separate report on its website (www.xinhuanet.com).


A bit harsh on the CSL, saying thye would shame a national stadium

It does make sense though, just the vision of having 10k in a big stadium looks bad, which is why we don't play in 95k MCG and people often criticise NRL matches with 9k at the 80k capacity ANZ stadium

I would expect that post Olympics China will focus on their football team more to help bring prestige to their country