Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua have had to withdraw from their pre-season friendly with Sydney FC.

The match was proposed to be staged at the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday July 25 but Shanghai have pulled out because five squad players have been called up to the Chinese national team.

The club believed that the quality of their squad would not be worth touring down under with.

"This is really disappointing for the coach and players because it was to have been an important part of our pre-season build up leading into the season proper," said Sydney CEO Stefan Kamasz.

"We will now have to take steps to identify suitable opponents for our final pre-season match, which will be difficult given the short lead time."