No seats or beer for the fans proves China are miles off hosting a World Cup, but Bale makes up for it in Nanning
There are plenty of takeaways from a night that saw the hosts suffer a humiliating defeat by Wales
It was a chastening night for Marcello Lippi’s China team as they fell 6-0 to Wales in Nanning. Here’s what we learned.
1. China’s sixth richest man can’t turn everything to gold
Wanda chairman Wang Jianlin was greeted with cheerleaders as he left one of his five star hotels to head to the football tournament he set up but by the final whistle of Wales vs China he must have wondered why he bothered – and not for the first time this season. After selling his stake in Atletico Madrid earlier this year and taking over at Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang – who were humbled 8-0 by Shanghai SIPG on opening day and have lost twice more since – Wang may have hoped for more from the national team. Instead, they were humbled by Wales. To make matters worse for Wang, it was a Real Madrid man who wrought havoc.
2. Bale well worth the money as China Cup lives up to its billing
The China Cup was initiated to make sure that Chinese football fans got to see the best players in the world up close and the opening game of this 2018 tournament delivered on that. Both sets of fans were there to see Gareth Bale, the only true superstar on the pitch, and with more than 35,000 pairs of eyes on him the Welshman delivered. He was at the heart of everything the Welsh team did and well worth the reported £1 million (HK$11 million).
3. Chinese fans rewarded – just not fans of Chinese football