Better infrastructure and bigger salaries paid on time "are prompting a new wave of Brazilians to emigrate to China, with players and coaches making the move for cash and relative football stability," according to Andrew Downie of REUTERS. Two of the top players in the Brasileiro Serie A signed for Chinese clubs this month, "joining more than a dozen who are already there." Diego Tardelli, 29, left Atletico Mineiro for Shandong Luneng at the weekend for more than $5M and Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande "paid almost three times that for Ricardo Goulart," who was the third-highest scorer in the league last year. Former Atletico Mineiro coach Cuca, who signed Tardelli for Shandong Luneng, said, "China reminds me a lot of Japan in years gone by." Cuca, who moved to China after guiding Atletico Mineiro to its first ever Libertadores Cup in '12, said that working conditions in China are "light years ahead of even the biggest Brazilian clubs." He said, "No team in Brazil has an infrastructure like the team I am at in China. Land is easier there, we have seven
pitches, each one better than the next, there's all-weather pitches,
full size, seven-a-side. Each player has his own suite. We have all the latest you can imagine in terms of physical infrastructure." But money and peace of mind are the "biggest lures." China "may become a football force in the future, but the game there has taken time to develop" (REUTERS, 1/19).
