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Israeli encounters China's different ways during tryout By Yaniv Kubovitch Tags: Jewish World, football, China  Liron Zarko, Hapoel Kfar Sava's sweeper for the past eight years (with a year's break at Hapoel Petah Tikva), must still be asking himself every morning at his prestigious hotel room in Western Beijing how on earth he ended up there. A week after Zarko arrived for tryouts at Beijing Guoan, the Israeli sweeper is still getting used to his new surroundings in China. Every morning he is driven to the club's training ground by a young driver-cum-translator. But when training is over Zarko does not try to immerse himself much in the surroundings. He spends most of his time hanging out with two other Israelis who have lived in the Chinese capital for over 10 years. "It's difficult to find someone to talk to at the club because of the language barrier," Zarko says. "Local soccer players treat foreigners with suspicion. They threaten their livelihoods. I've been training for four days now and not one player has spoken to me. Other foreigners told me that that's the way it is in the beginning, but I really felt like a ghost. Like no one knows I'm here or cares." Advertisement Learning about Chinese cuisine in advance may have also helped Zarko. "I don't keep kosher and even eat seafood," he says, "but one day I went to eat and was astounded. Everything was moving in the dishes. I don't know what was on them but I'm sure it was alive. I couldn't even look at it let alone eat it." The Israeli decided to try to be big in China in the hope of receiving a fat contract after a long and miserable season at Kfar Sava, which was eventually relegated. But in China the season is in full swing and club officials believe signing the Israeli now would be good for the team. "Training sessions here are very easy," the sweeper says. "I can't explain it. The league has two rounds a week so perhaps this is their way of going easy on players. In the last match I watched strange things happen. A stretcher was brou ght in after every tackle - maybe 20 or 30 times in 90 minutes. It looks like it's a candid camera setup." The Israeli player says his Beijing club has a training facility the likes of which Israeli clubs can only dream about. It includes bedrooms, a swimming pool and a large dinning room. The club's Korean coach has six assistants. At times, the coach's instructions in Korean are translated into Chinese and then into English. Zarko will return to Israel on Thursday and await the club's reply on whether they want to sign him. He says, however, that his experience in Beijing has made him unsure if he will accept an offer to move to China if one arrives. So far, Zarko believes the Chinese have been impressed with his skills. "Their players aren't big or strong," Zarko explains. "A slide tackle here or there is out of the question. I come to the training session, tackle the ball and the coach is thrilled. But I have a girlfriend who I want to come with me, and bringing her here won't be easy. Still, spending a year here could be an experience, and it's not like I have many attractive offers in Israel." More Jewish World news and features Bookmark to del.icio.us   Terror in the capital A Palestinian rammed his bulldozer into a bus in Jerusalem, killing three. Poetic injustice Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish blends sarcasm and hope in his latest work.

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