Dabao

Benfica striker comes home to boost offense + - 08:22, December 13, 2007 Related News Dujkovic scotches amalgamation plan Comment Tell A Friend Print Format Save Article Portuguese league giant Benfica's Chinese striker, Yu Dabao, has returned home and will likely be a main cog in the offense during the Olympic team's tune-up match today against the United States in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province. "I will discuss with him first about his physical condition - it's a long flight from Europe," said head coach Ratomir Dujkovic. "Maybe I will not put him in the starting lineup and give him some minutes in the second half. But in the second match, I will surely send him to play." The two teams will meet again three days later. "I am so happy to see his passion and motivation to play for the team. I trust him and he will give something to the team," the coach said. When Benfica signed Yu in January, many people thought the signing was little more than an effort to increase the club's exposure in China, according to Portuguese soccer website portugoal.net. But the forward impressed some naysayers when he scored a hat-trick in his first appearance with the club's youth team in an 8-0 victory over Portimonense. Although he is still waiting for his chance to play in an official league match, the 18-year-old Yu has been impressive in the club's warm-up matches as he convinced Dujkovic to call him cup again. "I called him up for June and July's training in South Africa and Italy. But he did not come to join us for some reason," said Dujkovic. "We want him to compete with the team so we know more about him." As the first Chinese player in the Portuguese league and the first Asian player for Benfica, Yu is starting to fit in with his new life in Europe. "I admit it's not easy to communicate with my teammates, but my colleagues have helped me a lot," the soft-spoken Yu told portugoal.net, which added Yu is already able to speak some Portuguese. It has been hard work for Dujkovic to get a feel for his offense, as he has struggled to find a winning combination in past competitions and is looking for more options up front. Yu, along with Manchester United's teen striker Dong Fangzhuo and Dutch league club Vitesse's hopeful Yu Hai, is now one of the top candidates for the Beijing Olympic team, and he said he would jump at the opportunity to impress the head coach. "Benfica did not allow me to return last time to the Olympic team, according to FIFA rules," Yu said. "This time, the club really gave me a big chance and let me come home even though the warm-up match is not within the FIFA international window. "I know I will not have much time to train and compete with my teammates, so I will try to grab every minute to show my game." Today's match will also be the squad's first appearance on home soil since it lost to North Korea in the final of the Four-nation Invitational in Shenyang four months ago. With three over-aged national players on the team - the maximum number of over-age players a team is allowed in the Olympic Games - Dujkovic said they have no other choice but to win. "It's a very important warm-up match during this resembled training. We have to win to boost our morale for the Beijing Games," said Dujkovic, who has promised to lead the team into the semifinals at the Beijing Olympics next year. Source: China Daily