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BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korean coach Lee Jang-soo on Wednesday brought his team Changchun Yatai to China's southwestern city of Chongqing for training, and received a warm welcome by fans in the city where he started his coaching career in China in 1998.
Lee and his team were greeted by supporters of home team Chongqing Lifan at the airport. The 60-year-old was even presented with flowers.
Dubbed the "steel coach", Lee took reins of Chongqing 19 years ago when the team was named Qianwei Huandao. He helped the team claim its first-ever national football title in 2000. He was also awarded with an honorary citizenship in Chongqing. When he left for Qingdao in 2001, he described Chongqing as his "second hometown".
During this trip back home, Lee plans to prepare Changchun for the upcoming Chinese Super League (CSL) season, since their home city in northeast China is too cold for training.
As one of the best known foreign coaches in China, Lee took his team to his motherland South Korea for winter training in January. Chongqing is the last stop of winter training for the team.
The 2017 CSL season will open on March 3, and Shanghai SIPG will be Changchun Yatai's first opponent.
According to new CSL rules published by the Chinese Football Association (CFA), in the new season, each team is allowed to have a maximum of five foreign footballers, and only three of them can be registered in match-day rosters. The CFA also requires each team to put at least one U-23 Chinese player in its starting line-up.
To adapt to the new rules, Changchun divided the team into two groups and gave its young players more chances during the overseas training period.
"The two new non-Chinese players, Odion Jude Ighalo and Mario Sergio Santos Costa, contributed goals to our team in the warm-up matches in South Korea. We are satisfied with our players' performance abroad," said Li Gang, vice general manager of Changchun Yatai Football Club.
"But the young players still lack confidence and experience. They cannot grow up overnight," Li added.
Lee Jang-soo took over Changchun in May 2016, when the 2007 CSL champions were winless in the first seven rounds of the 2016 season.
Lee went on to help Yatai finish 12th in the 2016 season of the 16-team CSL. He has yet to lay out his main goals for Changchun in 2017.
