Chinese Players

langy · Feb 17, 2003

Per sources from China, both Pu and Bai will quit Freedom on coming season and stay with their local chinese club.

FearM9 · Feb 17, 2003

Originally posted by langy
Per sources from China, both Pu and Bai will quit Freedom on coming season and stay with their local chinese club.
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Is this late breaking news? Cuz published articles are saying that Pu Wei is on loan for the entire 2003 WUSA season to China and Bai Jie will leave the Freedom before August.

langy · Feb 17, 2003

The news is on mmsoccer.com today. Except Pu and Bai, another four players will do the same.

DCUPopeAndLillyFan · Feb 17, 2003

Word I've seen everywhere is what Fear posted - Pu Wei was being loaned out for the season because her spot on the Chinese NT was not secure yet. Since Bai Jie is a shoe-in, we were able to keep her until at least late July.

As much as I love Bai Jie though, if we're going to lose her for the most crucial portion of the season I would just as well not have her at all in 2003. Why get accustomed to relying on a player of her caliber all year when you have to shift gears when it matters most?

Still, I'll believe it when I read it elsewhere.

JoeSoccerFan · Feb 17, 2003

If Bai can help us win a game or two, then I'd rather have her during the season and figure out another solution for the playoffs

Bushman · Feb 17, 2003

When I talked to Coach Gabarra 2 weeks ago, he said it was all worked out. Pu would be gone this year, and Bai would be here until August. It was all set.

Most of the Chinese players in the league will not be here this year, but Bai will be.

Mark Bushman
www.onthesidelines.org

FearM9 · Feb 17, 2003

I really think there was something lost in the translation from what the WUSA did with the Chinese players and what is reported on mmsoccer.com.

From the latest Women's Soccer Insider:

2. CHINESE COMPROMISE: Washington coach Jim Gabarra in last week's
Women's Soccer Insider praised the work of Lauren Gregg, the WUSA's
vice president of player personnel, in reaching a settlement with
Chinese authorities that allowed Bai Jie to remain with the Freedom
this season.

Gregg has done marvelous work fostering a delicate relationship with
the Chinese since the WUSA started making plans for its first season,
and it has paid off with the best of China's stars donning WUSA
teams' jerseys.

The battle for 2003 was perhaps the toughest of all. China, as host
of the World Cup, is putting heavy pressure on its national team to
finally capture a championship. The best it has done so far was a
silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and second place, after
penalty kicks, at the 1999 Women's World Cup.

Unbiased observers believed the Chinese were the best team in the
competition in '99, and disappointment in Australia the following
year (they were ousted after finishing third in the Group of Death)
and at last year's Asian Games (North Korea won the trophy) has only
heightened demand for success.

In addition, as host, the Chinese players are needed for promotional
and media needs -- a fact Gregg, WUSA Commissioner Tony DiCicco's
assistant in 1999, knows all too well.

"Having been there, I can [relate]," said Gregg, who also served as a
U.S. assistant at the 1991 and 1995 World Cups and the 1996 Olympics.
"It's a huge responsibility on and off the field ... [with] media and
promotional efforts, as well as the [national team] program in
general."

China would have preferred keeping all the players in Coach Ma
Liangxing's pool, but Gregg worked to free three players -- Bai and
San Diego's Zhang Ouying and Fan Yunjie -- for their WUSA teams
through the first week of August. Either Zhang or Fan is expected to
be dropped by the Spirit, but the two remaining WUSA Chinese won't be
subject to a national team call-up before August.

Philadelphia's Zhao Lihong (to Guangdong) and Washington's Pu Wei (to
Shanghai TV) are on loan to Chinese clubs, but both, theoretically,
will return to the WUSA in 2004.

Only Atlanta's Sun Wen, who also returned to China, is definitely not
coming back.

"We tried to put ourselves in their shoes, as well as ask that they
put themselves in our shoes ...," Gregg said. "At the same time, we
explained we really couldn't treat them any different than any other
country because that would be unfair. We had to get them to
understand we were not trying to draw a line in the sand, that we
were trying to find equitable solutions for everybody."

Negotiations took a toll on the relationship, Gregg admits.

"The good news is that on the last call, they started the call by
sort of coming full-circle on how important our relationship is,"
Gregg said. "For awhile it was petering. ... Neither side gave up on
finding a resolution, and I'm really, really happy about that."
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