The conditions and history rather favour New Zealand at this venue, but then Sri Lanka often make a mockery of the expected narrative

The Preview by Madushka Balasuriya21-Aug-2019Big PictureChaos has been a constant in Sri Lankan cricket in 2019. Captaincy change – check; coach sacking – check; interim committee – check; sports ministry interference – check; contract terminations – check.Yet, quite incredibly, Sri Lanka are on a three-match winning streak in Tests, on the verge of consecutive Test series wins against South Africa and New Zealand. If results go their way in the Ashes, they could end up above either Australia or England in the Test rankings.Team selection and captaincy quandaries don’t seem such a big issue anymore as the selectors have seemingly stumbled upon a winning combination. A broken clock is indeed right twice a day. What does this mean for New Zealand?A series that began as a nice little warm-down from the emotionally and physically draining madness that was the World Cup final is now in must-win territory, with 60 World Test Championship points at stake. This isn’t to question New Zealand’s professionalism, but merely an indication of the resolve and fight shown by the hosts.New Zealand however do have history in their corner. They won at the P Sara Oval in 2012 to record their first Test win in Sri Lanka in 14 years. Their only other game here was drawn. Add to this, Sri Lanka have won less than half their matches at this ground.Both Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor registered tons in that 2012 win, and with the captain having had an underwhelming outing in Galle, he is due a big score. On a surface that is likely to offer more pace and bounce, Sri Lanka’s top order will also need to be more wary of the visitors’ pace threat.Form guideSri Lanka WWWLD (last five completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand LWWWDIn the spotlightTrent Boult picked up seven wickets in his only match at the P Sara Oval. Having already troubled Sri Lanka’s batsmen on as pace averse a pitch as possible in Galle, he’ll be licking his lips at the prospect of squaring up to Sri Lanka’s top order again.Dimuth Karunaratne could not have asked for a better start to his Test career as captain. Three wins out of three, and a team that is fast gelling under his leadership. But he will know better than most how fragile a foundation this new found success has been built on. On a surface on which scores in excess of 400 and sub-200 are all possibilities, Karunaratne’s guiding hand at the top of the order will be crucial to the overall productivity of Sri Lanka’s batsmen.Team newsFit again, Dilruwan Perera will very likely come into the side in place of the still green Lasith Embuldeniya.Sri Lanka: 1 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), 2 Lahiru Thirimanne, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella (wk) 7 Dhananjaya De Silva, 8 Dilruwan Perera, 9 Akila Dananjaya 10 Lahiru Kumara 11 Suranga LakmalFor New Zealand, fast bowler Neil Wagner could come in, though it remains to be seen if it’ll be at the expense of one of the spinners or the quicks.New Zealand: 1 Jeet Raval, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Henry Nicholls, 6 BJ Watling, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Ajaz Patel, 9 Will Somerville/Neil Wagner, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Tim SoutheePitch and conditionsThe pitch traditionally has more in it for the quicks, with a fair amount of pace and bounce, and back-bending effort is more often than not rewarded. However if the rain stays away and the pitch dries up, expect the spinners to come into play as the Test wears on.Stats and trivia Sri Lanka’s Test record of nine wins and seven losses at the P Sara Oval is their second worst at any home venue with at least 10 matches played, the worst being at Asgiriya in Kandy (seven wins, nine losses) The win in Galle meant Sri Lanka won three successive Tests chasing for the first time in their history Currently placed second in the rankings, New Zealand will drop a place (or places, based on results in the Ashes) if they don’t level the series With 972 runs, Kane Williamson needs a further 56 to become the second-highest run scorer in bilateral ties between the two sides, going past Mahela Jayawardene. Stephen Fleming tops the list with 1166 runsQuotes”I think this pitch will suit the batsmen and fast bowlers more than the Galle surface did. I think there will be more runs here from both teams than there was in Galle.”
“In these conditions if you get yourself in you need to keep going and take the game as deep as possible. We’re probably guilty of that throughout the [first] Test match. Hopefully we can go a lot bigger here.”

Tottenham Hotspur have been a real force in the Premier League this season, and while their form has taken a slight hit as of late, they'll undoubtedly be battling it for the Champions League places until the bitter end.

Ange Postecoglou has taken a side that limped to a seventh-place finish last year, lost arguably their greatest-ever player in the summer, and has turned them into one of the most exciting teams in Europe.

That said, with the goals not coming quite as easily since the turn of the year, the Australian might be wishing that Daniel Levy and Co didn't sanction the £750k sale of a player who has been tearing it up in the Championship for the last couple of years, as he could've been a monster under the tutelage of the former Celtic boss.

Jack Clarke's Tottenham transfer

Tottenham signed the dynamic winger Jack Clarke from Leeds United in July 2019 for a fee believed to be around £8.5m before sending him back on loan for the 2019/20 season, although a lack of game time saw him move to Queens Park Rangers in January.

Over the next two seasons, the York-born gem would spend time bouncing between the youth sides at Tottenham and loan moves to Stoke City and Sunderland. Luckily, the latter ended up being quite successful, and he was eventually sold to the Black Cats in July 2022 for a fee that is reported to have been only £750k.

However, the deal also included a considerable sell-on clause of potentially up to 50%, which could prove to be savvy business if the 23-year-old is sold for the price that is being reported.

In all, the 5 foot 11 winger made just four appearances for Spurs' first team, 26 for the youth teams, and a combined 21 between QPR and Stoke when he finally left for the Stadium of Light.

At the time, it just looked like a transfer that didn't work out, and by cutting their losses, the north Londoners did the right thing – oh, how things have changed.

Jack Clarke's valuation at Sunderland

In his first season as an official Sunderland player, Clarke scored a reasonably impressive 11 goals and provided 14 assists in his 50 appearances, which was enough to help the side reach the Championship Play-Off semi-finals in their first season back.

However, this season, the young "diamond", as former manager Tony Mowbray described him, has seriously upped his game and already has 15 goals and four assists to his name in just 35 appearances, which is all the more impressive considering that Sunderland are currently 22 points off the automatic promotion places.

With his consistently impressive performances in the Championship, the 23-year-old has understandably caught the eye of several Premier League clubs in recent months, with The Standard reporting that Burnley saw a £15m bid turned down just last month.

The report revealed it would take an offer of around £20m to secure his exit from the northeast, which would be around £19.25m more than Sunderland paid Tottenham in 2022 – or a 2566% increase.

While Spurs could be set to make up to £10m from any potential deal, which is brilliant from a financial point of view, you can't help but wonder if Clarke would've been better off staying in north London.

With Son producing 11 of his 18 goal involvements as a centre-forward, Timo Werner providing just two assists in six appearances, and Brennan Johnson returning just two goal involvements in seven games on the left, there is every chance the Sunderland ace could've made that position his own this year.

Ultimately, he's not a Tottenham player anymore, and the potential sell-on could be a nice earner for the club.

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However, seeing just what Postecoglou could have done with Clarke in the Premier League would have been intriguing indeed.

Rangers could make another deadline day signing for manager Philippe Clement, following the expected arrival of winger Oscar Cortes from Lens.

Rangers back Clement with multiple January deals

In their bid to wrestle back Scottish footballing dominance from Old Firm rivals Celtic, and potentially pip them to the Scottish Premiership crown this year, the Gers board have backed Clement with multiple new additions already.

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Fabio Silva signed from Wolves on a loan deal to reinforce the Belgian's attacking options, with highly-rated defender Mohamed Diomande later following him through the door at Ibrox.

“Everybody is really pleased because he was one of the biggest prospects in Scandinavia and there were a lot of teams interested in him," said Clement on signing Diomande.

"He is still a young player, but he has a lot of experience also. He was really interested in the project here and we had a lot of talks about that. It is a long-term signing and that is not easy to do in January so I am delighted that the club could do that. He is really versatile, he is a good technical player with a lot of running capacity, he is still developing in strength, but I think we can make him stronger here.

“The club has made a good effort to make this transfer possible because it is a process not only from me, Nils [Koppen] and the scouts but it is from everybody in the club."

The Scottish Premiership giants, as widely reported, are also finalising their third signing of the January window as Cortes completes a move to Glasgow.

The 20-year-old, who found game time hard to come by in Ligue 1 before his pending Rangers arrival, did manage a goal and assist over four substitute league appearances for Lens this season.

The transfer will be a six-month loan initially with the option to make it permanent this summer, according to The Daily Record, but Cortes may not be their only last-minute signing.

Date of birth – December 3, 2003

Age – 20

Nationality – Colombia

Position – Right-winger

Height – 1.78m

Indeed, reports suggest that Rangers are trying their best to sign a new striker before deadline strikes at 11pm this evening, with Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge now sharing what he knows about the Gers' transfer plans.

Rangers could make another deadline day signing after Cortes

As per the journalist, speaking to GiveMeSport, Rangers could make another deadline day signing after Cortes, with his "source" explaining that it's a distinct possibility.

“A source also told me there might be one more, so we’ll have to wait and see. But I think if Clement got four in, he’d be delighted because I don’t think he inherited the best squad in the world, and he inherited players who came in in the summer who just haven't done enough," said Bridge.

They were in for left-back Jefte from APOEL to, but as per Fabrizio Romano, that deal has now collapsed.

At the end of last year, British businessman Jim Ratcliffe completed a deal to acquire 25% of Manchester United from the Glazers, one that will see him take control of the sporting operation at Old Trafford. In 2024, he'll surely want to truly announce his arrival with a statement signing.

One player who could fit the bill is Michael Olise at Crystal Palace. United are reportedly interested in making Olise one of the first additions of the Ratcliffe era in the belief that he could revitalise Erik ten Hag's attack.

They could either capitalise on a new release clause in the Palace contract he signed last summer, or try and negotiate a part-exchange deal involving right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Wan-Bissaka, of course, came to United directly from Palace, and it's been suggested that United extended his contract by 12 months in order to use him as a bargaining chip in their pursuit of Olise. Fabrizio Romano has now shared the latest on United's interest, and it certainly sounds promising for Ten Hag.

United could sign Olise for less than £60m

Speaking to The United Stand, Romano said that Man Utd will consider triggering Olise's release clause, and hinted that he could be available for less than the anticipated £60m-£70m figure.

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He said: "I think it is not £60m or £70m. I think it can be less than this. There are many clubs interested in this boy. I’m sure Chelsea will still be there. I’m sure that for, Man United, it will be an opportunity they will consider because it’s obviously a big opportunity when a player has a release clause."

Elite playmaker Olise could spark United's attack

Dubbed a "wonderful player" by current manager Roy Hodgson and a "special talent" by predecessor Patrick Vieira, Olise could be exactly the kind of signing United need.

He may only have one assist in the Premier League this season, but we shouldn't be fooled by that figure, because the underlying data shows that he is in fact one of the best playmakers in the division. As you can see in the table below, he ranks in the top six for expected assisted goals per 90 minutes, and he's also third for shot-creating actions per 90 (5.85). The reality is that he's been let down by his teammates after supplying them in front of goal.

Rank	Premier League player	Expected assists per 90
1	Pablo Sarabia	0.53
2	Mohamed Salah	0.44
3	Cole Palmer	0.39
4	Pervis Estupinan	0.38
5	Leon Bailey	0.37
6	Michael Olise	0.35

This wasn't the case last season, when Olise finished fourth in the Premier League assist charts, and seventh in the overall big-five leagues leaderboard, on 11. Palace only scored 40 goals, so he was the architect of more than one in four.

The 22-year-old should theoretically make a huge impact at Old Trafford, where the attack is malfunctioning. The focus thus far has been on the lack of goals – United rank a miserable 16th in the league on 1.16 per 90 minutes – but it would be wrong to paint a picture of purely wastefulness.

Instead, the reality is that they are desperately struggling to create chances too – their average of 1.42 xG per 90 is only the 12th-best in the league – but adding a defence-splitter like Olise would hopefully go a long way to driving those numbers up.

Leeds United had a relatively quiet January transfer window which just saw Connor Roberts arrive on loan, but rumours have already started circling about summer plans. Having already sold Luis Sinisterra to Bournemouth, it now looks as though those at Elland Road are ready to continue their ruthlessness by selling another player this summer.

Leeds United transfer news

One player who is yet to get his departure from Leeds is Wilfried Gnonto. The winger reportedly handed in a transfer request during the summer window, but failed to push through a move to Premier League side Everton.

The rumours then arrived once again last month, as the Italian was linked with a late move to West Ham United. Just like the summer, however, a move failed to materialise. Staying put in Yorkshire, Gnonto has since proven his worth in the Championship, scoring what turned out to be a winning goal over Bristol City.

One player who did get his move in the summer, however, was Jack Harrison. The winger, unlike Gnonto, completed a loan move to Everton and could now complete a permanent departure to confirm Phil Hay's earlier feeling that the Whites could sanction Harrison's departure.

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According to Pete O'Rourke of Football Insider, the 49ers and Leeds are ready to sell Harrison with or without Championship promotion this season, with offers expected from the Premier League and across Europe. Current loan club Everton are reportedly keen to turn the winger's deal permanent but could see any transfer thrown into doubt over their lack of top-flight security as things stand.

However, if Leeds go up, there is still a chance Harrison could return to the club, but it appears as if the price is right, the Whites will cash in.

Selling "Intelligent" Harrison could be a mistake

Whilst Leeds battle for promotion in the Championship, Harrison has been proving his Premier League quality at Everton. The winger has quickly become an important part of Sean Dyche's side and has picked up where he left off for a struggling Leeds team in the last campaign. That said, if the Whites do secure promotion to the top flight, then Harrison's numbers show that he is a player they should be looking to depend on rather than selling – even if they'd be clearing his reported £90k per-week wages.

Starts

17

Goals

3

Assists

3

Former Leeds manager Jesse Marsch was certainly a fan of the 27-year-old, previously saying:

"I feel like Jack is becoming a really solid, clear, intelligent, intensive player for us.

"So you know, obviously, we want to keep developing him and keep pushing him but I've been really happy with the progress that he's made over the last month and I think if he can continue to understand tactically and understand the mentality of the way we want to play, that he can get better and better and better. So yeah, and then I think again, all the players ahead of the ball will be able to put together more more dangerous actions and find more goals."

CSA’s acting director of cricket, Corrie van Zyl, said the selectors would look discuss white-ball captaincy as part of their strategy towards World Cup 2023

Liam Brickhill06-Aug-2019

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Faf du Plessis will captain South Africa’s Test side in India, but there may soon be a new leader in the South Africa’s white-ball sides as Cricket South Africa begins to chart a course for the next World Cup in four years’ time.CSA’s acting director of cricket, Corrie van Zyl, confirmed on Tuesday that du Plessis would remain in charge of the Test side, ending the uncertainty and speculation that had accompanied the major shake-up in South African cricket’s structures over the weekend. There had been a question mark over du Plessis’ reign when CSA released a statement suggesting that an “interim captain” might lead in India.”Faf will be the captain of the Test team and then we will talk about the white-ball strategy to 2023 and how that will affect decision-making,” van Zyl said, during a press briefing on Tuesday morning.”It’s important to look forward to 2023 as well. We need a strategy to 2023, so in terms of appointing the captain we will look at how we approach that. We are having a selection meeting in the next day and a half to confirm that.”For his part, du Plessis is still keen on leading South Africa, while remaining realistic on the inevitable need for change at some point. “I’m 35, I’ve probably got two or three years left, hopefully more. You can’t plan for that kind of thing, you have to try and plan for what every year looks like – and those are what the conversations with CSA will have to be,” du Plessis said after CSA’s awards ceremony on Saturday night, at which he was named one of the Cricketers of the Year. “What does year one look like? Year two? And then if there is a year three, what does that look like?””Even though I was disappointed after the World Cup, it is still special to play for this team,” du Plessis added. “I wasn’t thinking about quitting, it’s about weighing up what the next year looks like in terms of all three formats. It’s a lot of time away playing cricket. As you get older you have to start looking at other tournaments. That’s the balancing act that would need to happen.”A new short-format leader will be trialled soon, and the South Africa A team, as well as the senior men’s and women’s sides, are all due to travel to India in the coming months. The A squads were announced in June, with Temba Bavuma in charge of the 50-over side, while an interim selection committee – headed by van Zyl – will deliberate on the senior South Africa squads for India this week.Van Zyl added that he is already negotiating with an interim team director for the men’s tour, after coach Ottis Gibson and his staff were removed from their positions when CSA decided on a radical re-structure in the way cricket is run after the World Cup failure.The A tour kicks off at the end of August, while the senior men’s side will play the first of three T20Is on September 15 in Dharamsala. The Test series gets underway on October 2 in Visakhapatnam.

Luke Shaw was the only England player not to train on the eve of the Three Lions' Euro 2024 clash with Denmark and is set to miss the match.

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Shaw selected for England while injuredDid not feature in Serbia winTrippier expected to fill in againGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

Gareth Southgate selected Shaw on the basis that he would be able to contribute, even if not for 90 minutes, in some of England's games at Euro 2024. But ahead of the second group stage game against Denmark, the official Three Lions X account confirmed the Manchester United full-back did not train with the rest of the group and Southgate has since revealed he will not be in the squad on Thursday.

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England have a serious lack of depth in defence, especially at left-back. Southgate has never been afraid to use Kieran Trippier out of position but it was a problem against Serbia as he was unable to play on the outside with his weaker foot. Shaw was instrumental in the run to the 2021 final, scoring the opener in the match, and will need to speed up his recovery if the Three Lions are to go all the way this summer.

Getty ImagesWHAT SOUTHGATE SAID

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Southgate said: "Luke won't be involved tomorrow. He's actually on track for where we thought he would be originally. We were hoping a couple of days ago we might accelerate that but he needs a bit more volume work so he didn't train with the rest of the group today.

"There are days when he needs to do more than the rest of the group and there are days when he needs to recover when the others are pushing. So he's still in and out with the others but operating on his own programme too."

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DID YOU KNOW?

Shaw featured just 15 times in all competition for Manchester United last season and did not set foot on the pitch between February and May. He missed 26 Premier League matches and did not register a single goal or assist for the Red Devils.

MatériaMais Notícias

O São Paulo venceu o Red Bull Bragantino por 1 a 0, no Morumbi, na noite da última segunda-feira, pelo Campeonato Paulista. Com o melhor ataque da competição, com 16 gols, o que chamou atenção no triunfo foi a defesa são-paulina, que soube controlar bem o setor ofensivo do Massa Bruta.

ATUAÇÕES: Léo Ortiz faz gol contra e São Paulo vence após boas mexidas de Crespo

Crespo preferiu começar a partida com o mesmo trio de zaga que vem ganhando espaço nesta temporada. Arboleda, Bruno Alves e Léo. No meio, o argentino colocou Luan, volante de mais contenção, na vaga do meia Igor Gomes, que jogou contra o São Caetano.

VEJA A TABELA DO CAMPEONATO PAULISTA

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Essa alteração fez com que o time ganhasse mais ‘pegada’ no meio, o que facilitou a marcação do rápido setor do Bragantino. De acordo com o’ SofaScore’, o São Paulo atingiu os dois dígitos em todas as estatísticas de defesa: Desarmes (13), interceptações (11) e cortes (17). A boa atuação defensiva foi exaltada pelo técnico Crespo.

– Contra uma equipe muito bem organizada, difícil de enfrentar… este rival tão difícil, acho que chutou uma vez no primeiro tempo. A equipe demonstrou uma força defensiva contra um ótimo adversário. Em jogos passados, ofensivamente o São Paulo mostrou grandes coisas. Faltava um rival nos colocasse em dificuldade, e encontramos hoje. E o time foi perfeito. A equipe do São Paulo foi perfeita – disse, em entrevista coletiva.

Cuidado com faltas e cartões
No entanto, o São Paulo precisa tomar cuidado com o número de faltas e de cartões amarelos. No segundo tempo, por exemplo, Daniel Alves cometeu uma falta boba na entrada da área, mas Claudinho bateu na barreira. O Tricolor cometeu 23 faltas, contra 11 do adversário.

As advertências também foram muitas no jogo contra o Massa Bruta. Cinco jogadores receberam cartão amarelo: Reinaldo, Dani Alves, Léo, Eder e Luciano. Jogadores da defesa, do meio e até do ataque. Pontos que podem merecer atenção para a próxima partida.

Resultado bom, contra um adversário respeitoso. Era o que faltava para o São Paulo responder: vou firme e forte na briga pelo título estadual.

An advisor to Anthony Martial has defended the French forward as he continues his search for a new club after leaving Manchester United.

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• Martial looking for new club after Utd exit
• Frenchman linked with Lyon, Marseille & Besiktas
• Advisor hit out at claims forward is "greedy"

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Martial announced in May that he would leave the Red Devils this summer after nine years at the club. The Frenchman is yet to make a decision regarding his next move, though it has been reported that Lyon, Marseille and Besiktas are interested in signing him.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Martial was largely unable to live up to expectations since joining United from Monaco as one of Europe's most promising forwards. The 28-year-old managed just 13 Premier League appearances in his final season at United and his struggles at club level have put his international career on hiatus, having been absent from the France squad since 2021. However, his agent says the attacker is looking for an ambitious club and hopes to fight for a spot in the France team once again.

• WHAT PHILIPPE LAMBOLEY SAID

  Philippe Lamboley told : "Anthony is on vacation. We are studying the different projects and we will take time. Anthony has made sure to be fit and ready for his new club. He has been training normally for two months. He is 28 years old. I hear reports that he would be too financially greedy with the clubs. This is not true. Anthony wants an ambitious project to achieve high club goals and get back into the France team. He will choose his club according to the sporting and family project. The finances are important for any professional player but they are not his priority."

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• Getty Images
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR MARTIAL?

  At his age, Martial will be desperate to make the right call when it comes to his next step. He may opt to return to his homeland by rejoining Lyon, where he made four senior appearances before signing for Monaco, or heading to Marseille. Otherwise, a new adventure in the Super Lig with Besiktas could tempt him.

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A zagueira Rafaelle Souza tinha um acerto verbal com o Palmeiras Feminino para assinar um contrato de empréstimo até o dia 30 de junho, conforme apurado pelo NOSSO PALESTRA/LANCE! nos últimos dias. Contudo, segundo publicação da própria jogadora em seu Twitter, o Changchun Dazhong-CHI, que havia liberado a atleta para o período de três meses no Brasil, voltou atrás na decisão e vetou qualquer tipo de acordo até o meio do ano. Desta forma, o negócio está suspenso.

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>> Saiba os valores que a Conmebol vai pagar como premiação fase a fase na Libertadores 2021

– Só para deixar claro aqui: meu time, que tinha aceitado me emprestar nesses três meses, acabou voltando atrás e definiu que não me liberará, pelo menos até o meio do ano. Eu já tinha conversado com alguns times do Brasil e do exterior, mas nada se concretizou até o momento – anunciou Rafaelle.

Só para deixar claro aqui: meu time que tinha aceitado me emprestar nesses 3 meses, acabou voltando atrás e definiu que não me liberará, pelo menos até o meio do ano. Eu já tinha conversado com alguns times do Brasil e do exterior, mas nada se concretizou até o momento.

— Rafaelle Souza (@Rafaelleleone) April 20, 2021

A zagueira atualmente está treinando junto com o time feminino do Bahia, por não ter a possibilidade de retornar à China devido à pandemia de Covid-19. A ideia do empréstimo ao Verdão seria não perder ritmo de jogo para que, quando retornasse ao Changchun, estivesse em plenas condições de atuar. Seu futuro, no momento, segue indefinido.

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