Opinion | Chinese Super League makes an impressive UK debut, but it’s already so last season. You’ve probably never heard of the new best league

Just as the CSL makes ground in the UK with the introduction of British broadcaster Sky Sports’ live coverage, the hipsters’ choice is the next league down

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Obafemi Martins, the US immigration officer’s choice. Photo: AP

Published: 5:33pm, 1 Aug 2016Updated: 5:34pm, 1 Aug 2016

If I needed proof that the Chinese Super League really has become international then I got it the most unlikely of places: US immigration. Talk with the agent turned towards football and his interest in the CSL became apparent – as a Seattle Sounders fan he took an interest in their former striker Obafemi Martins and his fortunes at Shanghai Shenhua – but he seemed to have more than a passing knowledge of the game.

There must be many more like him and not just in the US. Now that Sky Sports have started broadcasting the CSL in the UK, games now come with English commentary and the league has a chance to truly enter the mainstream.

This weekend saw the first games to be broadcast on Sky Sports. The first was the game between Shanghai Shenhua and Jiangsu Suning, which ended in a 3-2 comeback win for the Blue Devils. Those who tuned in saw a late winner from Freddy Guarin and Martins score his fifth of the season. They also saw Guarin convert a penalty that the Nigerian had won and a brace from his compatriot, Suning’s Colombian Roger Martinez.

In Sky’s other game, Shenhua’s rivals visited Guangzhou to meet R&F. They went one better, sharing six goals in a dramatic draw that was notable for a pair of late penalties – one for each side – and Shanghai SIPG’s Chinese international winger netting a hat-trick to move into joint third on the goalscoring chart, just two behind the injured Demba Ba, cementing his place as the top Chinese scorer.

Legendary Italian Fabio Cannavaro is back in China, but not in the top tier. Photo: AP

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Alan Tyers wrote of the CSL’s British TV debut that, “Basically, it’s the Premier League, and Chinese football is probably here to stay.” They also referred to Shanghai SIPG as SPIG, though.

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Just as the CSL makes ground in the UK with the introduction of British broadcaster Sky Sports’ live coverage, the hipsters’ choice is the next league down

Just as the CSL makes ground in the UK with the introduction of British broadcaster Sky Sports’ live coverage, the hipsters’ choice is the next league down