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Seydou Keita impressed by standard of Chinese Super League
Aug 1, 2012 6:11:00 AM
The former Barcelona midfielder made his Chinese debut for Dalian Aerbin on the weekend and revealed he was impressed by the pace of the game afterwards
Former Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita says he was impressed by the standard of the Chinese Super League after making his debut as Dalian Aerbin lost 5-3 to Liaoning Whowin on Saturday.The 32-year-old Mali international made his maiden appearance for Dalian as a 46th-minute substitute in the clash and told reporters afterwards he was impressed by the pace of the game.
"It is my first appearance in a Chinese football match, so I felt a little bit nervous," Keita said. "I didn't have much time with the team, so I am still getting along with them now.
"The pace of the match was high. The Chinese league is improving."
Keita's side had trailed 3-1 at the break, although they slipped 5-1 down despite his introduction at the break.
However, Keita helped set up Peter Utaka's goal and had the ball in the back of the net himself but the strike was ruled out for offside.
He added: "The 5-3 scoreline isn't the true distance between Dalian and Liaoning. We fought back too late but I hope we can gain a victory with my team-mates in the next game."
Keita's Dalian remain in relegation danger, sitting in 13th, just two points above the drop zone.
"We were training very hard before and the victory in our last match made us ambitious," Keita said.
"We hoped we could continue the results of the last match, but Liaoning started the game quite well and we were behind on the score in the first half... and we also made some mistakes in the defensive line."
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