Highly Paid Int'l Players Shine In Chinese Super League Debuts

Big-money players such as Alex Teixeira, Ramires, Gervinho and Jackson Martinez "all scored on their Chinese Super League debuts" as the league kicked off -- "but some commentators wondered how the national team was supposed to benefit as all 16 goals on opening weekend came from foreigners," according to James Porteous of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. An article in the Guangzhou Daily said that it "was embarrassing that Chen Po-liang, of Taiwan, was the closest thing the league had to a 'local' player scoring." The commentary said, "From the perspective of the development of Chinese football, it’s a despicably bad thing." Teixeira, whose move from Shakhtar Donetsk to Jiangsu Suning for €50M ($55M) "stunned world football," scored twice on his debut. Chinese players did have some impact however -- "collecting all five red cards shown on the opening weekend" (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 3/7).