Shanghai: Brazilian football star Alexandre Pato celebrated Tianjin Quanjian’s victory in the AFC Champions League with a very public attempt at wooing the Chinese actress Dilraba Dilmurat.
The 28-year-old Pato and teammates held up a poster showing two pictures — one of him and one of Dilmurat — as Tianjin supporters chanted her name following Wednesday’s 4-2 home victory over Jeonbuk Motors of South Korea.
The poster — it was unclear who made it — had a message on it imploring Pato to play well because “Dilraba is watching the live broadcast”.
Tianjin fans then bombarded Dilmurat with messages on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter and where she has nearly 40 million followers, urging her to reciprocate Pato’s interest. Dilmurat, 25, a popular television and film actress, did not respond and reports say that she is yet to cave in to Pato’s overtures.
Last week, Pato, a former AC Milan star who has rejuvenated his career in China, posted a message on Weibo to Dilmurat saying in Chinese: “I can’t forget you are one of the most beautiful Chinese.”
Tianjin fans, who saw their side win thanks to two late goals from Pato and the French striker Anthony Modeste, did their best to help Pato. “Pato scored again. You go reply him little sister,” wrote one Weibo user to Dilmurat. Another asked her: “Raba, did you see Pato’s performance?”
But not everyone was amused by Pato’s attempts to get the attention of Dilmurat, who is from China’s traditionally Muslim region of Xinjiang. Yu Yuyang, a reporter with Oriental Sports, a major Chinese publication, said on Weibo that Pato’s behaviour was inappropriate and “it is debatable whether this has anything to do with football”.
Prolific marksman Modeste, on loan from Cologne in Germany, fired home to give the ambitious Chinese side a priceless lead over the South Koreans and Pato put gloss on the result deep into injury time.
With two rounds of matches to play in the group stage of Asia’s top club competition, Tianjin are second in Group E, with the top two going into the last 16 knockout phase.
Jeonbuk still head the group, even with this first defeat in four matches, but see their lead at the top trimmed to two points.
Tianjin boast the likes of former AC Milan starlet Pato, Belgium international midfielder Axel Witsel and Frenchman Modeste, who was a regular scorer in the Bundesliga before moving to China last summer.
Modeste set up Wang Yongpo to give the home side the lead on eight minutes, only for Kim Shin-wook to equalise for the visitors from South Korea.
Zhang Cheng put Tianjin ahead again on 55 minutes, but Adriano pegged the Chinese Super League (CSL) side back once more 12 minutes later.
An entertaining clash looked destined to end in stalemate before Modeste popped up in the 84th minute to score, then Pato made it 4-2.
