commit 7be8b6a1b5daf7cc2676d8f47cbb7b8cc3d85653 Author: ermelindahopma Date: Thu Dec 11 00:13:17 2025 +0800 Update 'A Soccer Mystery: why Mighty China Fails at The World's Biggest Sport' diff --git a/A-Soccer-Mystery%3A-why-Mighty-China-Fails-at-The-World%27s-Biggest-Sport.md b/A-Soccer-Mystery%3A-why-Mighty-China-Fails-at-The-World%27s-Biggest-Sport.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cc7e672 --- /dev/null +++ b/A-Soccer-Mystery%3A-why-Mighty-China-Fails-at-The-World%27s-Biggest-Sport.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +
In April, Chinese President Xi Jinping went to a company that makes humanoid robotics. There he drifted a concept to fix the nation's woeful men's soccer team.
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"Can we have robotics join the team?" Xi was estimated as saying on the of Zhiyuan Robotics.
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It might be too late. China will be out of World Cup qualifying if it stops working to beat Indonesia on Thursday. Even a [victory](https://h2invest.io) might just delay the departure.
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What's the issue? China has 1.4 billion people, the globe's second largest economy and won 40 Olympic gold medals last year in Paris to connect the United States. Why can't it discover 11 elite males's soccer players?
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The federal government touches every element of life in China. That top-down control has helped China become the biggest maker of whatever from electronics to shoes to steel.
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It has actually tried to run soccer, however that stiff governance hasn't worked.
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"What soccer shows is the social and political issues of China," Zhang Feng, a Chinese reporter and analyst, informs The Associated Press. "It ´ s not a complimentary society. It doesn't have the team-level trust that allows players to pass the ball to each other without fretting."
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Zhang argues that politics has stalled soccer's development. And there's included pressure since Xi's a huge fan and has actually guaranteed to [resuscitate](https://goldenestate.am) the video game in your home. Soccer is a world language with its "own grammar," states Zhang, and China does not speak it.
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"In China, the more focus the leader locations on soccer, the more nervous the society gets, the more power the bureaucrats get, and the more corrupt they become," Zhang adds.
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After China defeated Thailand 2-1 in 2023, Xi joked with Srettha Thavisin, the Thai prime minister at the time. "I feel luck was a huge part of it," Xi stated.
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The consensus is clear. China has too couple of [quality gamers](https://swiftrizproperty.com) at the lawn roots, too much political disturbance from the Communist Party, and there's too much corruption in the [local video](https://callarihomesltd.com) game.
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Wang Xiaolei, another prominent Chinese commentator, suggests that soccer clashes with China's top-down governance and the focus on rote learning.
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"What are we finest at? Dogma," Wang wrote in a blog in 2015. "But football can not be dogmatic. What are we worst at? Inspiring ingenuity, and cultivating passion."
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The most recent chapter in China's abysmal males's soccer history was a 7-0 loss in 2015 to [geopolitical competing](https://www.amlakbanoo.com) Japan.
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"The fact that this defeat can happen and people aren ´ t that shocked - despite the historic displeasure - simply shows the issues dealing with football in China," states Cameron Wilson, a Scot who has operated in China for 20 years and written thoroughly about the video game there.
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China has gotten approved for only one guys's World Cup. That was 2002 when it went scoreless and lost all three matches. Soccer's governing body FIFA places China at No. 94 in its rankings - behind war-torn Syria and ahead of No. 95 Benin.
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For perspective: Iceland is the tiniest country to reach the World Cup. Its newest population quote is almost 400,000.
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The site Soccerway tracks international football and does not reveal a single Chinese player in a top [European league](https://coloradofsbo.com). The nationwide team's finest gamer is [forward Wu](https://www.stanfordpropertyinvestor.co.uk) Lei, who bet three seasons in Spain's La Liga for Espanyol. The club's majority owner in Chinese.
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The 2026 World Cup will have a field of 48 teams, a huge boost on the 32 in 2022, yet China still may not make it.
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China will be removed from credentials if it loses to Indonesia. Even if it wins, China needs to likewise beat Bahrain on June 10 to have any hope of advancing to Asia's next certifying stage.
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Englishman Rowan Simons has actually invested nearly 40 years in China and got popularity doing tv commentary in Chinese on English Premier League matches. He likewise composed the 2008 book "Bamboo Goalposts."
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China is gaining from reforms over the last years that positioned soccer in schools. But Simons argues that soccer culture grows from volunteers, civil society and club companies, none of which can grow in China given that they are possible oppositions to the rule of the Communist Party.
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"In China at the age of 12 or 13, when kids go to intermediate school, it ´ s referred to as the cliff," he states. "Parents might enable their kids to play sports when they ´ re younger, but as soon as it pertains to intermediate school the scholastic pressure is on - things like sport go by the wayside."
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To be reasonable, the Chinese women's group has actually done better than the guys. China finished runner-up in the 1999 Women's World Cup but has actually faded as European groups have actually risen with built-in expertise from the men's game. Spain won the 2023 Women's World Cup. China was knocked out early, battered 6-1 by [England](https://housesites.in) in group play.
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China has actually been effective targeting Olympic sports, some of which are [fairly obscure](https://meza-realestate.com) and depend on recurring training more than creativity. [Olympic team](https://getpropt.com) sports like soccer offer only one medal. So, like many countries, China concentrates on sports with multiple medals. In China's case it's diving, table tennis and weight-lifting.
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"For young individuals, there's a single value - screening well," states Zhang, the commentator and reporter. "China would be OK if playing soccer were just about bouncing the ball 1,000 times."
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Li Tie, the national team coach for about 2 years beginning in January 2020, was last year sentenced to twenty years in prison for bribery and [match fixing](https://lifetimeinvestmentrealty.com). Other leading administrators have likewise been implicated of [corruption](https://atofabproperties.com).
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The graft likewise reached the domestic Super League. Clubs invested millions - perhaps billions - on foreign talents backed by many state-owned businesses and, before the collapse of the housing boom, real-estate developers.
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The poster kid was Guangzhou Evergrande. The eight-time Super League champs, as soon as coached by Italian Marcello Lippi, was [expelled](https://offagent.co.uk) from the league and dissolved earlier this year, not able to pay off its financial obligations.
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Zhang states entrepreneurs purchased expert soccer teams as a "political homage" and cited Hui Ka-yan. The embattled property developer financed the Guangzhou Evergrande Football Club and used soccer to win favor from political leaders.
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Residential or commercial property giant Evergrande has actually accumulated debts reported at $300 billion, reflective of China ´ s damaged residential or commercial property segment and the basic health of the economy.
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"China ´ s failure at the worldwide level and corruption throughout the video game, these are all factors that lead parents away from letting their kids get included," states Simons, who founded a youth soccer club called China Club Football FC.
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"Parents look at what ´ s going on and concern if they desire their kids to be involved. It ´ s sad and frustrating."
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Wade reported from Tokyo and Tang from Washington.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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