It was the ultimate Shanghai football match: Shanghai Greenland Shenhua facing Shanghai SIPG. There was no better way to launch the 2019 Chinese Super League season than with this "Shanghai duel" at Hongkou Stadium, on March 1.

The match lived up to fans' expectations with four goals scored by Cai Huikang, Lv Wenjun, Oscar Dos Santos Emboaba Junior and Odil Ahmedov, handing Shanghai SIPG a 4-0 victory. Brazilian midfielder Oscar, who was never far from the action, was crowned man of the match. Spanish coach Quique Sánchez Flores of Shanghai Greenland Shenhua must have felt some regrets for not having fielded his new midfield recruit, Alexander N'Doumbou, during the league's opening game.

Shanghai Greenland Shenhua recruited 27-year-old N'Doumbou, who was born in Gabon, among other promising players, to raise the team's competitiveness and improve its ranking. Indeed, the team ended last season in seventh place. N'Doumbou, a native of Port Gentil in Gabon, is Chinese on his mother's side. This came to be a useful asset for the player, allowing him to sign his contract with the Chinese Super League on February 26 under his Chinese name Qian Jiegei.

As a result, the former player of Marseille's Olympique in south France will not be counted as part of the team's quota for foreign players. This will enable him to play at will throughout the season without restriction if he proves himself to be a performing asset. But things look bright for the young player, who has already gained the trust of his managers and signed a three-year contract until 2022.

A strong and resourceful player, N'Doumbou was quick to reply on his Facebook page to those who do not approve of his new sporting destination. "Life is made of choices, and I made mine. I have been building my career on my own since I was 12 years old. I owe nothing to anyone but my parents and God. A new chapter is opening for me in China. For those of you who are skeptical about the turn my career is taking, that's your right. I'm proud to be able to play in the Chinese Super League. I accepted this offer to play in my mother's home country and I'm taking full responsibility for it," said the midfielder.

Such a reply is reminiscent of his time in Marseille, when N'Doumbou was never afraid to refute the doubts of his coaches José Anigo and Didier Deschamps through his performances on the field.

Talent to spare

Western football fans may well remember the young N'Doumbou as a remarkable player at Olympique - both for his talent and his looks. Born in 1992 in Port Gentil to a Gabonese father and a Chinese mother, N'Doumbou has Chinese facial features. But he is above all a footballer with talent to spare, who always outperformed his peers on the field during his youth. As soon as he arrived at Olympique's training center from Martigues, Anigo spotted his promising talent.

"He's a very technical and skillful attacking midfielder, and he moves in a smart way," said Anigo. Arriving in Marseille at the age of 16, N'Doumbou was quickly upgraded to the Under-17 Championship, where he was part of the teams that won the French Championship twice, in 2008 and 2009.

Didier Deschamps, the coach of the professional team, upgraded him to the Under-19 Championship and gradually brought him in as a fully-fledged member of the senior team. N'Doumbou signed a five-year professional contract in June 2010, including two years as a professional trainee.

He stepped onto the pitch for the first time with Olympique on January 10, 2010, replacing Mathieu Valbuena in the 88th minute in the final match of the 32nd French Cup, between Olympique and Trélissac, which his team won 2-0. From then on, his performances on the field were regular and appreciated by both the club and fans.

He was drafted into the Gabonese National Team, the Panthers of Gabon, in 2011, at the London Olympic Games. His technical performances and fast breakaways never ceased to impress on the field.

Back in the European Championship, he spent his time between Marseille's Olympique and Orléans, where he played on loan. This lack of stability undermined the player's morale and performance. Facing a loss of confidence, he left France for Belgium, before moving again, this time to Bulgaria, where he played for FK Vereya. Then, N'Doumbou decided to answer China's call.

Back on his feet

Shanghai Greenland Shenhua's coach Flores was impressed by the aptitudes and skills of his new recruit during a training camp in Marbella, Spain. He needed a strong and agile midfielder able to turn a match around and to offer solutions and variations in terms of strategies. It turns out N'Doumbou was exactly what he was looking for. Yann Lachuer, his former coach in Orléans, said that N'Doumbou "is a player who knows how to give the best of himself and how to surpass himself to become a player of great talent, working for the team when he feels confident. He can now play as a right or left winger with the same ease."

As for N'Doumbou himself, his main objective is to be part of an ambitious team. "First and foremost, I like to play in a club that plays the game and has ambition, not a club that plays lazily. That way, there will be competition and I take it as a challenge. I trust my coach and my teammates, and together we will do our best and we will not let our fans down."

The versatility of N'Doumbou, his coach's expectations and the high ambitions of Shanghai Greenland Shenhua are a perfect combination. It is now up to the player to rise like a phoenix in his new career in China.

(Reporting from Gabon)

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