Shenhua, who is preparing for the new season in Qatar, ushered in the first match of the "Equality Cup" in the early hours of this morning, and finally Slutsky's team defeated the host team Duhail 1-0 with a goal from Yu Hanchao. In the game, all five foreign aides of Shenhua started, and Manafa, a good winger who joined the team not long ago, played particularly brightly.
In this game, the Shenhua coaching staff put some of the international players who returned to the team into the bench lineup, Jin Shunkai, Wen Jiabao and other players who had relatively limited opportunities to appear last season got the opportunity to perform, and at the same time, for the sake of further running in the lineup, all the coaching staff including new and old foreign aids, including Luis and Manafa, were ranked in the starting lineup.
In the 5th minute of the opening game, Yu Hanchao seized the opportunity of the opponent's player's clearance mistake and broke the opponent's goalkeeper's ten fingers with a strong shot in the penalty area. In the ensuing period, Shenhua created a few more chances, but could not change the score again.
In the pre-season preparation period, Shenhua made its debut in the open warm-up match, although Shenhua did not send all the main players this time, compared with last season, the team's playing style and state have changed somewhat. The new coaching staff emphasised high pressing, focusing more on attacking and defending the flanks, while allowing the midfielders to control the tempo of the game as much as possible and take the initiative into their own hands. The new system also puts forward higher requirements for players in corresponding positions. In this morning's game, the new foreign player Manafa who played as a right wing-back was eye-catching. This foreign aid who has been in the Portuguese Super League, La Liga and other leagues, showing good speed and explosiveness, foot skills and overall awareness is also good, if this performance can be continued, it is very likely to add important weight to Shenhua's attack and defense on the right side in the new season. Last season, the right wing-back became a shortcoming in the Shenhua lineup, which also slowed down the team's progress in the league to a certain extent, and now Manafa's debut has won praise, which has also relieved the team and the majority of fans.
Luiz, another newcomer who has just joined, and midfielder Teixeira, who was plagued by injuries last season, were also entrusted with important responsibilities by the coaching staff. Luiz, who wore the number 9 shirt, teamed up with Malele to create some chances in attack with aggressive running and scrambling; Teixeira, who returned to the midfield position, became the metronome of the midfield alongside Amadou, and in the tactical system devised by Slutsky, the two gained more possession and played hard. However, compared with the "plug and play" Manafa, Teixeira and other four foreign players still need to further improve their form, perform better in the subsequent warm-up games, and lay a better foundation for the new season.
Although the "Equality Cup" is not an important event, there are still Shenhua fans who came to the Khalifa Stadium to cheer for the team, and the familiar Shenhua scarf can also be seen in the audience. According to the schedule, Shenhua's next "Equality Cup" match will kick off at 10 p.m. on the 4th, against the famous Brazilian team Santos. (Xinmin Evening News reporter Lu Weixin).