A 50 million yuan (HK$59.42 million) variety show featuring pop stars kicked off the new Chinese Super League season last night as home team Guangzhou Hengda defeated Dalian Shide 1-0.
Brazilian striker Cleo Cordova, who joined from Belgrade Partizan for a reported fee of HK$32 million, scored the only goal in the second half to give Hengda a perfect start, much to the delight of the 60,000 fans who packed Tianhe Stadium.
The extravagant, 30-minute opening ceremony marked the determination of the Guangzhou team, newly promoted to the16-team elite league, to break the domination of the northern sides.
Since its inauguration in 2004, the Super League has seen just one team from the south - Shenzhen Jianlibao in the first year - claim the championship. After that, it was teams such as Shandong, Dalian, Beijing and Changchun who dominated the league.
But Hengda, who have a 200 million yuan budget, are determined to usurp the northern powers.
The club, backed financially by their owner - a property developer listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange - have promised the players a 5 million yuan bonus for a win, 1 million yuan for a draw and a 3 million yuan penalty if they lose a match.
'Hengda are very aggressive and they want to win the league in their first year in the top flight,' said Hong Kong Football Association chairman Brian Leung Hung-tak, who was one of the many guests at the opening ceremony.