Brazilians add to Sun Hei firepower

Xiangxue Sun Hei look set to play more 'Samba' football in the new season after signing two more Brazilian players.

Sun Hei, who made a clean sweep of all four major titles last season, increased their strike power when forward Caritiba Fraga 'Emerson' (pictured) and Fladimir Freitas 'Lico' joined them yesterday.

Their regular line-up already includes two Brazilians - Footballer of the Year Cristiano Cordeiro and defender Andre Hartwig - and the arrival of the two additional South American players should be a boost to their titles hopes.

Emerson, 21, played for leading clubs Cruzeiro and Flamengo in his early days and was with the state team Cachoeiro last season when he scored 15 goals from 25 matches. At 1.7 metres, the diminutive striker had a brief trial spell with Singaporean side Home United before joining the Hong Kong champions.

Lico, who played along side with Cordeiro for two seasons in Internacional, was with Bakili FC in Azerbaijan for the just concluded season.

Coach Koo Luam Khen said yesterday that he would monitor the two new signings closely when they set off for a training camp in Guangdong province next week.

'They are both newcomers and I will see how well they blend with the other players during our one-week pre-season training in Guangdong,' said Koo. 'Of course we are pleased to have their service as we can have more options in attack, but we will not know until they join the rest of the team for training and competitions.'

Lico said he knew little about Hong Kong soccer and all he knew came from the mouth of his former colleague Cordeiro, but is confident that he would settle in the new environment very soon.

'This is a good experience for me and I am happy to have been offered the opportunity to help Sun Hei get better results,' said Lico.

'I know from Cordeiro that Sun Hei are a very good team who captured all four major titles last season. I also know from him that the game here is a bit different from Brazil and is very quick. It will certainly take some time for me to settle here but I do not think there should be any big problem,' said Lico.