Searching for some samba magic

Shandong's young talent learning to play Brazilian way

PORTO FELIZ, Brazil－Arriving in Brazil, Chinese soccer player Long Yushuo took on the more easily pronounced name Thomas, but it's the locals' skills with the ball that he's really hoping to adopt.

Thomas, 16, is one of a squad of youth players from Chinese Super League club Shandong Luneng dispatched to polish their game at Desportivo Brasil club in Porto Feliz, near Sao Paulo, which Shandong bought in 2014.

The idea is that the initiative will enable these youngsters to bring back something that all the money and desire in China cannot otherwise get－Brazil's famous "samba soccer" magic, the hallmark of its numerous superstars through the decades, including Pele, Ronaldo and Neymar.

When Thomas and 22 other under-16 players arrived from Jinan, the capital of Shandong province, in April, they knew little of Brazil.

Along with soccer practice, they study Portuguese in the quiet town of 50,000 people. But Thomas, who picked his name in honor of Germany and Bayern Munich forward Thomas Mueller, is clear about what his principal lesson has been in Porto Feliz.

"Technique," he said, alongside his teammates, who all wore Shandong's orange strip.

China may not have much soccer pedigree yet, but, encouraged by President Xi Jinping's national plan to develop the game, the country is working hard to catch up quickly.

Luneng, one of China's biggest electricity companies, is one of the major investors in the expansion plan, which has made China the world's fifth biggest transfer market in 2016. Of all the foreign imports to the CSL, the 21 Brazilian players comprise the biggest contingent.