Former Italian soccer player Fabio Cannavaro is the new coach of Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club. (Photo : Reuters)
Following the appointment of former Italian World Cup-winning defender Fabio Cannavaro in November of last year, the Alibaba Group-backed Guangzhou Evergrande were unable to prevail against FA Cup winners Shandong Luneng, who emerged with China's Super Cup trophy on Saturday.
The Super League champions were beaten during a penalty shootout after both sides failed to break through the defenses of their opponents during match time.
During the penalties stage, the first seven players all converted their kicks to place Shandong in the lead. Shangdong's victory then occurred after Guangzhou's Huang Bowen rammed the ball into the crossbar instead of the back of the net.
The winning team's Brazilian forward, Aloisio, managed to score his goal past Guangzhou keeper Zeng Cheng, who was unable to intercept the low ball on the left side of the net. The final shootout score of 5-3 secured the cup for Shandong.
Even though Guangzhou was able to maintain a more dominant position on the field in terms of both possession and chances at the opposition's goal, the team's players were unable to get past Shandong's goalkeeper, Wang Dalei. Wang's solid turnout was not a complete surprise, as he is China's national-team keeper and participated in China's Asian Cup performances in Australia in January.
Aloisio's victorious goal will be reaffirming for both Shandong and the entire Chinese association football community, as China has been heavily recruiting players from Brazil with the lure of attractive salaries.
Chinese clubs were involved in three of the five most expensive trades in Brazil's present transfer window, with Ricardo Goulart's historic $18.3-million move to Guangzhou Evergrande as the most expensive football sale between Brazil and China.
