As we all know, the "Russian-Ukrainian conflict" in recent days has become the focus of the whole world, and even football has been deeply affected. For example, UEFA cancelled Russia's right to host the Champions League final, Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic refused to go to Russia to play, and Bundesliga club Schalke 04 even took the initiative to remove the advertisement of a Russian oil company.
So in the Chinese Super League, is there anyone who explicitly calls for peace and opposes war? The answer is yes, he is a 39-year-old Brazilian foreign assistant Matthews from the Chinese Super League promotion team Zhejiang. After the "Russian-Ukrainian conflict," Matthews updated social media, writing: "God is with you, everything will be fine in Ukraine."
Speaking of Matthews, many fans familiar with the Chinese Super League know that this is a very powerful frontcourt attacking player, who formed a "Xuan Di Two Elders" combination with Muric that year to help Shijiazhuang Yongchang (now Cangzhou Lion) to kill four sides in the league.
After leaving Shijiazhuang Yongchang, Matthews went to the Zhejiang team in the Central League, played 22 games for the club, contributed 7 goals and 2 assists, and was called "the sword is not old". After the end of last season, Matthews' contract with Zhejiang team expired, but Zhejiang team intended to keep Matthews for another season, and Matthews himself agreed.
Although Matthews is a Brazilian, he debuted in the Portuguese league, played for the Portuguese Super League giants Braga, and later simply joined the Portuguese nationality, so Matthews is a dual player. Matthews' association with Ukrainian football came in 2011, when he moved from Braga to Dnipro in the First Division of Ukraine for 1 million euros.
During his five seasons with Dnipro, Matthews made a total of 154 appearances for the club, contributing 48 goals and 31 assists. Matthews not only made a career in Ukraine, but also found a life partner, his Ukrainian wife.
After Matthews left Dnipro, he was once very close to joining Greek powerhouse PAOK Thessaloniki, but in the last minute, two Chinese clubs came out in time, namely Zhejiang Greentown (now Zhejiang Team) and Shijiazhuang Yongchang.
At that time, Zhejiang Greentown and Shijiazhuang Yongchang were both struggling in the relegation zone, and they were very eager for Matthews, but in the end, Shijiazhuang Yongchang laughed to the end. Although Shijiazhuang Yongchang did not pay the Dnipro transfer fee, he gave Matthews a good annual salary as compensation, which is said to be more than 3 million euros (equivalent to 21 million yuan).
Matthews's performance that season was very eye-catching, helping Shijiazhuang Yongchang score 8 goals in 16 appearances, but after the end of the season, he was relegated due to his overall weakness. After relegation, Matthews did not leave Shijiazhuang Yongchang, but helped the team to rush to the Chinese Super League after two years of dormancy in the Chinese First Division, but after a season, Shijiazhuang was relegated again (and then successfully relegated).
At this time, Matthews is also 38 years old, as the captain of him is a little discouraged, after ending the contract with Shijiazhuang, he joined the Zhejiang team in the Chinese First Division, and did not expect to lead the team to success again. The experience of Chinese football in recent years is really wonderful for Matthews, and I hope to see this Brazilian veteran who is nearly 40 years old in the new season.