Batista arrives to take charge of Shenhua
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, May 26, 2012
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Former Argentine coach Sergio Batista is autographing for football fans at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport soon after he arrived this morning. |
Argentina's Sergio Batista arrived in Shanghai early yesterday along with his assistants in an effort to save Shanghai Shenhua's faltering season. He has however yet to sign the contract.
The five-member coaching team includes the 49-year-old former head coach of the Argentina national and Olympic teams, an assistant coach, a physical coach and two agents.
They were greeted at the airport by Shenhua officials, but Batista did not talk to the waiting media.
"After they have settled down, the club will show them around the training center and the stadium," said Ma Yue, Shenhua's press officer. "I'm not sure when the contract will be signed but it is unlikely to happen this week."
Batista will not be on the bench for Shenhua's home game against Guizhou Renhe tomorrow.
Batista is the 1986 World Cup-winning midfielder of Argentina which was led by Diego Maradona. Batista started his coaching career in 2000 and won the gold medal for his country's Olympic team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
His arrival has unsettled Shenhua's star player Nicolas Anelka, who is also acting as a coach after the sacking of Jean Tigana last month. Anelka, who had threatened to retire on Monday, later played down the row, putting it down to lack of communication.
Meanwhile, Zhu Jun, chief investor of Shenhua, was back in the city after being away for a year-and-a-half. Zhu hurt his ankle playing soccer with the team at Shenhua's training center. He told the Xinmin Evening News that he met Anelka and "said hello" to him.
"I held his hand and greeted 'how are you,' and he said 'I'm fine.' I asked again, 'are you sure everything is okay?' He nodded and said 'I'm fine,'" Zhu told the paper.
On footballing matters, Zhu did not seem concerned that Shenhua was 14th in the 16-team Chinese Super League.
"In the Super League, only Shenhua and Guangzhou Evergrande are the real big clubs," Zhu said. "The competition between us is pushing the development of soccer in China and attracting the world's attention.
"Don't worry, the results will get better," Zhu said.
Zhu also said Didier Drogba was still part of the plan.
"We all saw Drogba. ... He won the Champions League single-handedly." Zhu said. "He has incredible ability. With Anelka and a good midfielder, we can get the results."
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