Wuhan Zall fans received their New Year's gift on the first day of 2021, as the club announced to have renewed contract with Brazilian center-forward Rafael da Silva on Friday. 

Rafael joined Wuhan Zall in 2018 after he helped Urawa Red Diamonds of the J-League to crown at 2017 AFC Champions League. 

During 38 appearances at Chinese Super League, Rafael scored 31 goals and left deep impressions in Chinese fans for his distinctive celebratory "salute."

The club from the city, which was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, avoided relegation last season, before a flying start in the first stage of play-offs. 

In front of 2,000 travelling fans decked out in the club's orange colors, Wuhan beat Zhejiang Energy Greentown 1-0 in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, for a 3-2 aggregate victory in their two-legged play-off on November 22, 2020. 

It had been a huge testing season for Wuhan Zall and their supporters. 

The squad were stranded in Spain, where they were in pre-season training, after the central city of 11 million people was placed on a strict lockdown in late January. 

But when the virus began to take hold in Europe, Wuhan Zall struggled to return to China because of travel restrictions and flight disruption. 

They landed in southern China in mid-March, were then quarantined, before finally getting home in April after 104 days. 

In September, about 300 Wuhan supporters made the 750-kilometer trip eastwards to Suzhou and attended their first match in 280 days since the virus struck back in January.

(With input from AFP)