CHINESE central defender Du Wei suffered the ignominy of being substituted at half-time of his debut – and the Celtic fans never got another glimpse of the loan signing from Shanghai Shenhua.
Gordon Strachan brought in the 23-year-old international captain, who won 71 caps for his country, on a temporary transfer and handed him an ill-judged debut on the icy underfoot conditions of Broadwood in a Scottish Cup-tie against part-time Clyde on January 8 2006.
Du Wei was in good company that frozen afternoon in Cumbernauld – Manchester United and Republic of Ireland legend Roy Keane was also taking his Hoops bow following his sensational switch from Old Trafford to Parkhead.
DOWN – AND OUT…Du Wei struggles against Clyde in the 45 minutes of his Celtic career.
Strachan, alarmed at the awful display from Du Wei with the Cup holders trailing 2-0 to the gallant home side, hauled off the player and threw on Adam Virgo. Following a nightmarish and brief baptism, the player was quietly packed off home.
Celtic rallied in the second period and Maciej Zurawski managed to pull one back, but the damage had been done in a diabolical opening 45 minutes where Artur Boruc managed to keep the score down and also pulled off a superb penalty-kick save.
The spot-kick had been awarded after a reckless challenge by the on-loan centre-back as he flattened a Clyde opponent.
As first appearances are concerned, Du Wei is possibly rivalled only by the maiden voyage of The Titanic.
* TOMORROW: Don’t miss the adventures of another former Celt in CQN’s EXCLUSIVE series.
