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South China and Eastern Long Lions faced off in the opening game of the 2016/2017 HKFA – Season Playoff semi-final on Saturday afternoon in Mongkok Stadium. Eastern Long Lions' potent firepower was on full display, as the side defeated South China 6:1 and marched towards the Season Playoff final.



Eastern Long Lions opened the score on the 6th minute, when Ju Yingzhi's free-kick from the left side found a surging Xu Deshuai inside the box. Xu dished out a timely header and duly knocked the ball into the South China net.



Moments later, Eastern Long Lions were at it again. This time, Ju Yingzhi found himself on the receiving end of a teammate's cross from the right wing. Ju unleashed a quick shot from inside the box but was denied by a superb save from South China goalkeeper Tsang Man-fai.



South China came up with a half-decent chance on the 18th minute, when Chu Siu-kei took control of the ball near the top of the South China penalty area and pulled the trigger. However, Eastern Long Lions keeper Yapp Hung-fai was very alert and tipped the ball away to safety.



Eastern Long Lions doubled its lead on the 30th minute, when Ju Yingzhi's corner-kick was headed towards goal by a leaping Diego Moreira. The ball was then cleared away by a South China player on the goal-line, only to be smashed home by a highly alert Moreira. Eastern Long Lions was now up by two goals.



Jaimes Mckee made it 3:0 for Eastern Long Lions on the 38th minute, when the substitute latched onto a well-delivered Leung Chun-pong crossed and fired the ball into the South China net. Eastern Long Lions was cruising away at this point.



Right before the first half whistle, Eastern Long Lions added to the lead once again. This time, Ju Yingzhi's corner-kick was headed forward by Diego Moreira. The ball glanced off the goal-post and stayed out of the net. Josh Mitchell went for the rebound and easily nodded the ball past the goal-line. The score was now 4:0 with Eastern Long Lions well in front.



Eastern Long Lions hit the scoreboard again on the 54th minute, when Ju Yingzhi floated another tape-measured corner-kick into the box that found teammate Diego Moreira. The latter took care of the rest and headed the ball home, making it 5:0.



South China generated a rare chance on the 67th minute, when Leung Kwung-chung went deep on the left side and delivered a dangerous cross to the Eastern Long Lions box. Law Hiu-chung went for a diving header but could not find the target with his effort.



Moments later, South China finally broke the goose-egg. Law Hiu-chung picked up the ball on the right wing side and slid it to Yusuke Kato, who was making a run into the box. The Japanese player one-timed at the ball and fired the ball home. South China was still trailing 5:1 at this point.



South China nearly netted another goal on the 74th minute, when Chu Siu-kei collected the ball on the left side of the box, then whipped a lovely cross towards the far-post. Awal Mahama nicely chested down the ball but blasted it over the crossbar.



The Caroliners had another chance on the 81st minute, when Marko Perovic delivered a teasing corner-kick into the Eastern Long Lions penalty area. Chan Wai-ho soared high unmarked but directed his header wide.



On the 84th minute, substitute Cheng Siu-wai fired from outside the box but saw his shot hit the crossbar and stayed out of the net.



Late in the game, Eastern Long Lions' Cheng Siu-wai was brought down inside the box. The referee gave South China keeper Tsang Man-wai a red card and awarded Eastern Long Lions with a penalty. Cheng dusted himself up and fired the penalty home. The score was now 6:1.



The score stood towards the final whistle, as Eastern Long Lions defeated South China 6:1 and stormed towards the Season Playoff final.
 
Nottingham Forest; stayed in the Championship after judging it by perfection, surviving on the last day by goal difference.
For such a big club it would have been an absolute disaster to go down.
Lets see if they can bring in the money to mount a serious campaign to get back into the top flight.
 
So it's official now that Neymar intends to leave Barca for psg. They will have to pay a world record fee of €220 million to activate his buyout clause. As a Fc Barcelona supporter it truly hurts. Not only that the release clause that I once thought was out of reach for any club. But also that Neymar would betray the beautiful project currently underway in Barcelona. He was supposed to be the successor to Messi. But that's the Brazilians for you. Money comes first.

Rumours now suggest Barca will make a push for Dybala and Coutinho. We won't be able to get Verrati as again he has no buy out clause. Christian Eriksen from Tottenham should also be considered .
 
unrated said:
So it's official now that Neymar intends to leave Barca for psg. They will have to pay a world record fee of €220 million to activate his buyout clause. As a Fc Barcelona supporter it truly hurts. Not only that the release clause that I once thought was out of reach for any club. But also that Neymar would betray the beautiful project currently underway in Barcelona. He was supposed to be the successor to Messi. But that's the Brazilians for you. Money comes first.

Rumours now suggest Barca will make a push for Dybala and Coutinho. We won't be able to get Verrati as again he has no buy out clause. Christian Eriksen from Tottenham should also be considered
Click to expand...

Barca was always a stepping stone for Neymar in Europe. His priority is to win the Ballon D'or and be remembered in Brazil. He was never going to stay long term at Barca, i.e. more than 4 years as it's Messi's team and Messi will always be the fulcrum of the side, as long as he stays.

Of course, the obscene money thrown at him and his father helps as well.
 
The_Blindside said:
Barca was always a stepping stone for Neymar in Europe. His priority is to win the Ballon D'or and be remembered in Brazil. He was never going to stay long term at Barca, i.e. more than 4 years as it's Messi's team and Messi will always be the fulcrum of the side, as long as he stays.

Of course, the obscene money thrown at him and his father helps as well.
Click to expand...
But he was going to stay long term... that's why they signed him when he was so young.
The goal was that he can play with Messi and learn from him. When Messi was ready to move on then Neymar would take over.
Messi is 30 years old this year . Neymar is 25. So I believed that within 3 seasons Neymar would start to take over as his level increased.

I really hope PSG fail in all their targets this year so that he realizes the errors he made.
 
unrated said:
But he was going to stay long term... that's why they signed him when he was so young.
The goal was that he can play with Messi and learn from him. When Messi was ready to move on then Neymar would take over.
Messi is 30 years old this year . Neymar is 25. So I believed that within 3 seasons Neymar would start to take over as his level increased.

I really hope PSG fail in all their targets this year so that he realizes the errors he made.
Click to expand...

No he wasn't. You're dreaming if you think that he was going to stay long term at Barca. He's got to think about his legacy and wants to be numero Uno at the club he plays at and that was never going to happen as long as Messi is fit and healthy and at Barca. He's also got the WC next year in mind and the French league is less taxing than Primera Liga. He saw how spent Messi in the final of the last WC.

Unless UEFA step in with their Financial fair play ****** then Neymar is on his way to PSG. Money talks and BS walks as they say.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/aug/02/neymar-psg-barcelona-lionel-messi
 
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Is Neymar really that good? He formed an amazing frontline with Messi and Suarez but I remain unconvinced he's a "top drawer" player.
 
@ Big_Grumper yes, he is.

About him being long term in Barca, i have a theory and it all revolves around Dani Alves. Barcelona should have never let him go. On top of being an outstanding player, he had a good click both with Neymar and Messi. You need to keep your key people happy, and I have a feeling Alves would have helped.

And regarding Barcelona being the stepping stone, dunno. PSG ain't a bigger club, by any metric, than Barcelona. Chances of him winning more things there than with Barcelona? I don't see it.
They just got a bigger wallet right now. I would buy the legacy argument if you would have said Manchester United, Milan or Inter, but not PSG. Even Real Madrid.
 
Nearly £200m for Neymar.

Real are reported to be signing a teenager with barely a season's experience for £160m.

Insanity. A great game has lost its soul.

Sadly, on a much smaller scale, there are signs that money is worsening behaviours at various levels within rugby.
 
Cruz_del_Sur said:
@ Big_Grumper yes, he is.

About him being long term in Barca, i have a theory and it all revolves around Dani Alves. Barcelona should have never let him go. On top of being an outstanding player, he had a good click both with Neymar and Messi. You need to keep your key people happy, and I have a feeling Alves would have helped.

And regarding Barcelona being the stepping stone, dunno. PSG ain't a bigger club, by any metric, than Barcelona. Chances of him winning more things there than with Barcelona? I don't see it.
They just got a bigger wallet right now. I would buy the legacy argument if you would have said Manchester United, Milan or Inter, but not PSG. Even Real Madrid.
Click to expand...

Alves is going to PSG after Neymar help persuade him to choose them over Man City. This indicates Neymar will get a big say over PSG signings and a team will be built around him. He will be the main man at PSG which he wouldn't be if he stayed at Barca and having to adapt to a team still built around Messi.

A step up in the earnings league. It's being reported he will earn 45m euros a year at PSG. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40809505. With these top sports stars they are competing in a totally different universe. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes'_list_of_world's_highest-paid_athletes. He's still behind Ronaldo and Messi though earnings wise, but sure that would change if he helped PSG to the CL trophy. His dad as his agent will also get a big cut of the commission.

So both ego and money are big motivators for Neymar moving.
 
I understand ego and money. I just think it is a shame he just dismantled arguably (not really) the best offensive trio in the history of the game. And no, i am not exaggerating.
 
Cruz_del_Sur said:
I understand ego and money. I just think it is a shame he just dismantled arguably (not really) the best offensive trio in the history of the game. And no, i am not exaggerating.
Click to expand...
I agree he was making history as part of the best attacking trio in the history of the game. He was undoubtedly the successor to Messi. Barca would never invest that much money in a kid that they just plan to loan out.
Barca did not give him a bad contract. It was one of the best in the world. But PSG broke the bank completely and offered home an astronomical salary with a private jet and a presumed cut of the transfer fee.

Now if he wants to leave for that then fair enough. But the way he did it made me lose respect. He just kept quite this whole transfer window and then he rocked up at training one day and said he is leaving. Shocking all his team mates.
He could have just said sorry guys I got a huge offer from psg I have to take this. told his story to Barca fans and say he enjoyed the great years with the team. The way he handled it has made many Barca enemies. I loved this guy and if he needed to move then do it respectfully.

His legacy would have been that much greater if he could have taken over from Messi and retired at Barca. Now he will go to PSG and I swear I hope they fail in their quest for the Champions league.
 
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Again, i understand why he did it, but i see two potential problems.

1) He is a contemporary of Messi, and Messi could have made more money elsewhere too, but decided to stay. The comparison will be inevitable. Fans, your team's and others too, respect loyalty. Barcelona actually lost it's own compass (breaking laws, getting rid of Unicef and getting quatar as a sponsor) just to get him.
2) I'll put my foot in my mouth and say it first, PSG will not win any of the next 3 CLs.

Let me put it in very simple terms: I saw a LOT of non-barcelona supporters buying neymar's barcelona t-shirt. I don't think i will see a lot of non-psg fans buying his t-shirt now. At least, i'd be willing to bet the figures will go down a considerably.
 
http://www.espn.co.uk/football/span...nprepared-for-neymar-exit-which-is-a-surprise

Interesting view point from Graham Hunter who is a regular analyst on Skysports on Spanish football. He blames the Barca board for being totally unprepared for Neymar wanting to leave, but the clues were there.

"For the record, while there will be a huge amount of criticism of the Barcelona board for allowing the most recent Neymar contract renegotiation to leave the buyout clause as "low" as double the world transfer fee, I think that only reflects the fact that the last time they sat with the Brazil star to talk turkey, he was already in the power seat. Had they wanted, or indeed if they'd offered, to salary him sufficiently that they could impose a €600m clause, it's clear to me that Neymar would have rejected it, valuing his freedom of choice and liberty in the coming years too highly.

The reason why, at least in the eyes of their club socios ("members"), the board must wear the Dunce's cap and sit on the naughty step is that from the moment Neymar, his agent and his entourage refused to accept a vast (and genuinely unpayable) buyout clause, Barcelona's board, director of football and coach should have been working diligently towards a "what if?" scenario. It's clear that they haven't been doing that, or at least they haven't done it to a sufficient standard."
 
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Apparently Neymar wanted "a new challenge". Simultaneously fitting his ego and wallet into the Parc Des Princes, presumably.

PDP BTW is the best stadium I've ever seen international rugby in. RWC 1991 QF.
 
Kinda odd for someone asking for "a new challenge" after your direct competitor won the liga and the champions league.
 
Scots lose, stage set for us to exact some revenge on the dirty Welsh side and get some playoff action. There'll be some bite to tomorrow's match!
 

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