After a two-week hiatus, Shanghai Shenhua regrouped at the Kangqiao base this afternoon to prepare for the match. In addition to Wu Xi and Zhu Chenjie, who traveled to Doha to participate in the 12-team tournament, as well as Bassogo, who is preparing for the World Cup with the Cameroonian national team, other players such as Moreno, Adrian, Jonic, Dumbya and other foreigners are expected to return to the team. The team's recent training will focus on restoring physical fitness, under the guidance of interim manager Mao Yijun, in preparation for the AFC Cup in October and the second phase of the Chinese Super League in December. Currently, Shenhua has no plans to hire a new coach, and Mao Yijun will continue to lead the team through training and matches. On the day of the rally, offensive coach Kim Hyun-min, defensive coach Cui Cheng-yong, goalie coach Cui Eun-sung, physical fitness coach Wilk and technical analyst Zheng Jae-sun also returned to the team. After communicating with the club after the first phase of the game, these coaching team members have basically decided to stay on and continue to assist Mao Yijun to ensure the team's training and games.
Talking about the issue of selecting a coach, Salon General Manager Zhou Jun had said, "If it wasn't for the loss against Beijing Guoan at the time, we would have hoped to give Director Mao and Shenhua's in-house coaches some opportunities to continue leading the team." Despite Shenhua's eventual defeat against Guoan, the club is currently still considering Mao Yijun to lead the team. Zhou Jun explained, "On the one hand, it is now the period of epidemic, it is difficult for foreign coaches to enter our country; on the other hand, the coaches who come to Shenhua temporarily have accumulated insufficient understanding of the team." Based on these two factors, Shenhua will not hire a new coach for the time being. Among the five foreigners, Bassogo left China due to the call-up of the Cameroon national team, while the other four foreigners, Moreno, Adrian, Jonic and Dumbya, did not leave China during the vacation and do not need to be quarantined and can return to the team immediately. Cameroon's national team has two World Cup matches in September against Malawi and Cote d'Ivoire. If Cameroon qualify from the group stage, a double-header against the other nine group winners will follow for the five spots to reach the World Cup in Qatar. Bassogo's return to the team is yet to be determined and could miss the AFC Cup in October as a result. For this reason, Shenhua FC will maintain communication with the Cameroon national team. As for domestic players, Wu Xi and Zhu Chenjie are representing the national soccer team in the Top 12 tournament. Doha local time tomorrow night, the first round of the national football team against Australia, as the captain of the national football team, Wu Xi is basically certain to start the game, while Zhu Chenjie is expected to be among the 23-man list. According to the current plan, the entire national football team may be in West Asia for a long period of time, so Wu Xi and Zhu Chenjie will definitely miss the AFC Cup. With Shenhua in the relegation group, the original target of the top four or even the league title has been labeled as "failure" in advance this season. Neither the performance in the F.A.C. Cup nor the best ranking in the relegation group can make up for the loss brought by the team's poor performance in the first stage. After the team regroups, the club will deploy strategies and future plans for the next phase.
