Can the short-handed Shanghai Haigang team continue its winning streak? Wu Lei and Wang Zhenao infected with the "FIFA virus"

On June 14, Chinese football returned to the rhythm of the Chinese Super League, and the first half of the Chinese Super League ushered in the last round of competition. Shanghai Haigang, which had previously won six consecutive games, was deeply troubled by the "FIFA virus". Wu Lei, Wang Zhenao and other national team players may miss the starting lineup or even be unable to play due to injuries. Can the injured Shanghai Haigang team continue its winning streak before the intermission?

As the intensity and density of professional football matches increase, conflicts are bound to arise between national teams and clubs over the use of players. The injuries and fatigue suffered by players in national team matches, which in turn affects club performance, has been jokingly called the "FIFA virus" by netizens around the world.

During the intermission of the league, the Chinese national football team competed in the 2026 Mexico City World Cup Asia Zone Top 40, facing Thailand and South Korea respectively. These two high-intensity confrontations also caused many national team players to suffer injuries. Wu Lei and Wang Zhenao from Shanghai Haigang are two of them.

At the pre-match press conference, Haigang team coach Muscat specifically introduced the injuries of three national team players, Wu Lei, Wang Zhenao and Li Shuai. "First of all, we welcome the return of the national team players, and also congratulate the Chinese national team for successfully entering the next round of 18 after completing this stage of the competition." Muscat said, "After the national team list was announced, Li Shuai reported to the national team with an injury. He wanted to persist with the injury, but after six days, he found that he still couldn't continue, so he returned to Shanghai for treatment and recovery. Now he has recovered well."

Shanghai Haigang head coach Muscat introduced the injury situation of three national team players before the game.

Compared to Li Shuai who withdrew from the training camp early, Wang Zhenao and Wu Lei participated in the training camp from beginning to end. Wang Zhenao started for the national team against Thailand, but missed the away game against South Korea due to injury. Muscat said, "Wang Zhenao had his first experience of playing for the national team. He was actually injured when playing against Thailand, but because of his strong desire to play for the country and this was his first appearance for the national team, he continued to play the game with the injury. Afterwards, Wang Zhenao's injury was swollen and did not go away, so he was unable to catch up with the game against South Korea."

Wu Lei missed the national team's match against Thailand due to suspension, and returned to Shanghai for an X-ray due to an injury. He only came on as a substitute in the away game against South Korea. Muscat revealed, "Wu Lei also reported to the national team with a knee injury. He was suspended for the first game against Thailand, but in fact, due to the injury, Wu Lei did not have many systematic training sessions with the national team. He worked very hard to recover before the match against South Korea and play in this game. As you can see, Wu Lei played for about 35 minutes in the match against South Korea. In the past period of time, his injury has recovered relatively well, so he played for about half an hour. These three players have all come to Tianjin, and the coaching staff will make the final decision."

The injury-ridden team has brought a more severe test to Shanghai Haigang in the tough schedule in June. With 5 games in 16 days, 4 of which are away games, and a flight distance of nearly 10,000 kilometers, the Haigang team faces such a harsh schedule, which is a great test of the wisdom and strategy of the coaching staff. What kind of results can the Haigang team hand in in the June schedule is likely to have a key impact on the championship situation of the Chinese Super League.

Previously, the well-organized Haigang team had won six consecutive games in the Chinese Super League.

According to the schedule, Shanghai Haigang will first challenge the powerful Tianjin Jinmen Tigers on June 14, and then go south to play a make-up match with Meizhou Hakka - this very arduous make-up match is unique to Shanghai Haigang. The Shanghai Haigang team's away game against Meizhou Hakka was originally scheduled for April 21, but due to heavy rains in most parts of Guangdong Province, the game was postponed.

However, due to various reasons, the Haigang team was stranded on the road for three days and could not conduct systematic training. Head coach Muscat also complained: the training ground in Meizhou could not complete normal training, it did not rain on the day of the game, and a group of aunts were still dancing square dance outside the stadium.

The postponement of the game is inevitable, but this make-up match also makes the Haigang team's June schedule even more challenging. Only three days after the make-up match, Haigang will challenge Guangxi Hengchen in the Chinese FA Cup on June 21, and will play against Wuhan Three Towns in the Chinese Super League on the 25th. It will not be until June 29 that the team will return to the Shanghai Pudong Football Stadium to face the strong Zhejiang team.

From the 14th to the 29th, in 16 days, Haigang will play 5 games, including 4 away games, which is a huge test for the players' physical fitness and willpower. To make matters worse, 5 national team players of Haigang team suffered from physical fatigue and even injuries after two World Cup qualifiers, which will obviously affect the team's combat effectiveness.

At this time, it is particularly important for the coaching staff to make good personnel rotations and tactical adjustments. If nothing unexpected happens, head coach Muscat will increase the intensity of lineup rotations. At the same time, the medical team also needs to exert their professional capabilities and strive to race against time to ensure that some injured players recover as soon as possible through scientific treatment and professional rehabilitation.

The away game against Tianjin Jinmen Tigers may put Haigang's offensive style of football to the test. Currently, Haigang is the team with the strongest offensive firepower in the Chinese Super League, but there are many problems on the defensive end, and the team's goal conceded numbers remain high. Tianjin Jinmen Tigers has good defensive strength and previously tied the leader Shanghai Shenhua at home. This time, Shanghai Haigang is plagued by injuries and needs some rotation players to step up and seize the opportunity.

The rotation players of the Harbor team are expected to get a chance to prove themselves.

In the back line, Shanghai Haigang has sufficient personnel configuration. Even if Jiang Guangtai is physically tired and unable to play, Zhang Linpeng, Li Ang, Wei Zhen and He Guan can take over in time and maintain sufficient bench depth. In the full-back position, if Wang Zhenao is unable to start due to injury, the experience of veteran Wang Shenchao is trustworthy. His defensive ability and game attitude may have more room to play in away games.

However, in the midfield, Wu Lei's offensive strength is obviously higher than his teammates. He currently leads the scorer list with 15 goals. If Wu Lei is unable to play due to injury, other local forwards such as Liu Zhurun, Li Shenglong, Feng Jin, etc. need to seize the opportunity. Although there is a gap in ability, the rotation players can definitely help the team through active running and tenacious defense.

The intensive schedule and team injuries will test the wisdom and strategy of the Harbor coaching staff.

In addition to strengthening the rotation of players, it is also worth observing whether the coaching team led by Muscat can make targeted adjustments at the tactical level. The devilish schedule of 5 games in 16 days, if the original high-pressure kicking style is still continued in every game, it will greatly consume the players' physical strength, especially as the hot summer is approaching, and the previous good tactical style of the team may bring about a significant reduction in the winning effect.

At this time, if Muscat can appropriately shrink the formation at a specific stage and adopt more targeted and pragmatic on-the-spot command and tactical adjustments, he will undoubtedly be able to better cope with the devilish schedule in the hot summer.