The level of football in China, millions of dollars spent on foreigners not withstanding, is not quite up to par with some of the top soccer leagues in the world. As evidence, may we present to you Oscar, a Brazilian midfielder who had a decent spell at Chelsea but absolutely annihilated the near non-existent defense of Guangzhou Evergrande on Saturday while playing for Shanghai SIPG in the Chinese FA Cup semifinals.
I may not have the defensive acumen of a Paolo Maldini or the tactical nous of a Jose Mourinho, but I know if one of the opposing team’s best players is dribbling down the pitch toward my goal, I might try to step up and at least try to stop him, especially after he did this earlier in the year. But hey, that’s me. I’m not playing professionally in front of thousands of fans each week.
Guangzhou Evergrande apparently felt little desire to stop the marauding Oscar, who pranced unmolested from near midfield to inside the 18 where he had a one-on-one with the keeper. Clearly Guangzhou Evergrande is reeling from the loss of Paulinho from the midfield.
And this is where we go from being upset over poor defending to sympathetic for the Guangzhou Evergrande goalkeeper. Instead of picking out a corner or trying to blast one past the keeper, Oscar had the audacity to pull off a brilliant chip.
Oscar’s club, Shanghai SIPG, which also features Hulk and Ricardo Carvalho, won the match 4-1 to advance 6-2 on aggregate in the Chinese FA Cup. Shanghai SIPG faces a Shanghai Greenland Shenhua team with Fredy Guarin, Obafemi Martins and an overweight Carlos Tevez in the two-legged final in late November and early December.
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