Soccer
16:16, 01-Mar-2019
Soccer expert looks forward to new CSL season
Updated
18:58, 01-Mar-2019
["china"]
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The much-anticipated new season of the Chinese Super League (CSL) starts on Friday. Many eyes will be on the last year's runners-up, Guangzhou Evergrande as they will play host to Tianjian Tianhai in tonight's opening game.
Meanwhile, Ei China Limited's sports and culture commentator, Dong Jun (Paul Dong), is looking forward to the new season and in a free-wheeling chat with CGTN's Sports Scene he said that he is looking forward to an exciting season.
He has mentioned that he thinks the new-comers like Marouane Fellaini are expected to catapult the standard of the league but will also be under pressure to deliver.
Dong has remarked that he thinks importance should be given by the CSL sides on infusing more and more young blood as many of the youngsters will have to skip some league matches to play for the Chinese U-23 team as part of the country's new policy.
"We need our youngsters to be given more chances. At the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, we have seen a very young Qatar side winning the tournament whereas the Chinese national team was an aging side," he explained.
Five young national team players - Wei Shihao, Gao Zhunyi, Liu Yiming, Zhang Weixiu, and He Chao – have joined the league this season and are expected to carve a niche for themselves in the upcoming league season.