By Cal Widdall
In Shanghai Shenhua’s ‘friendly’ match against new crosstown rivals Shanghai Shenxin last weekend, a brawl broke out involving a number of players and backroom staff from each of the teams.
Anelka reacted by tilting his head to the heavens and releasing a deafening roar before unleashing his merciless fury in a whirlwind of forbidden ancient martial arts techniques, his thunderous vengeance laying waste to all before him until he stood alone amidst the rubble of bodies, clutching his blood-soaked Shenhua shirt as he vowed to one day devour the flesh of his new enemies’ children pottering about in the background looking bored.
Wild East Football explain exactly what’s going on in the video:
The incident began off a throw in, Dai Lin went in high and hard on one of Shenxin’s Brazilian players, and Shenxin’s Wang Yun followed it up with what appeared to be a minor foul on Shenhua’s newest arrival Mario Bozic. Dai took offense to this getting in Wang’s face and Wang responded with a weak jab at Dai. This was enough to turn the incident in to a bench clearing brawl, with Dai Lin throwing flailing punches and youngster Wu Xi trying to stomp and kick Shenxin players. After everyone was split up, Wang continued yapping at Shenhua players and while Yu Tao appeared to come over to be the voice of reason, Dai charged in with some more wild shots. The incident ended the friendly (if it could still be called that), with the two teams heading to their respective buses.
Shanghai Shenxin have recently moved to Jinshan Football Stadium after playing in Jiangxi last season as Nanchang Hengyuan FC, and it seems they need no encouragement from fans to forge their renewed cross-town rivalry with Senhua.
The club originally formed in Zhabei district in 2003 as Shanghai Hengyuan FC, before moving to Jiangxi the following season. Besides Shanghai, the cities of Guangzhou and Dalian also have two CSL teams apiece.
Mark your calendars for May 12th, when Shenhua and Shenxin butt heads for their first meeting of the season in what is sure to be an exciting game, for one reason or another.
