Yes, China is the most populous country in the world. It won the most gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. However, the football level in China is pitifully low, ranking 84th in the world, only one ahead of Mozambique.
China people love football, and it is estimated that hundreds of millions of China people will watch the game during the World Cup. At that time, the bar will be crowded, but China fans won't have a chance to cheer for their team. Even China's close neighbor, North Korea, which is isolated from the outside world, has got tickets for this year's World Cup. "We will cheer for the North Korean team because we are neighbors." Wang Qi, who sells South African World Cup tickets to China fans, said, "Their living conditions should not be as good as those of China players, but they play harder than China players."
Since China walked out of the "Cultural Revolution" in the late 1970s and ended its international isolation, the China national men's soccer team only appeared once in the 2002 World Cup, and failed to score a goal in three matches. However, the China women's football team, known as the "sonorous rose", ranks among the top 10 in the world (only 10).
Many fans in China are particularly distressed by the poor performance of the men's soccer team, because China has reason to claim that the sport was invented by China-the painting of the Han Dynasty in 220 BC depicts a game similar to modern football. "China people are good at math, but they can't explain clearly why a football team with a population of 65.438+0.3 billion can't be won by only 65.438+0 people." Xu, a professor of history at the University of Hong Kong and the author of "Olympic Dream", said.
Football journalists and fans have analyzed many reasons, most of which are related to money, politics, sports corruption and culture-usually these four factors work together.
In the field of sports in China, the government will select sports "winners" in national competitions and invest money to make them champions and win medals. However, these funds are generally given to individual events, such as gymnastics, swimming and diving, or events with traditional advantages in China, such as badminton and table tennis. China football team can only seek private sponsorship.
There are indeed well-funded companies and individuals in China who can sponsor the football team, but as long as the China team has been regarded as a loser, companies or individuals are unwilling to continue to provide sponsorship. Ma Dexing of titan sports said, "This is a vicious circle. Without results, there will be no money, and without money, there will be no results. "
Few children in China like playing football. Some sports reporters and fans believe that part of the reason is that schools generally do not attach importance to sports, and densely populated cities lack football fields. "What can China children do?" Fan Hui, a 6 1 year-old football fan, said: "If they play football, they kick the ball into someone's glass with one foot."
When ron simmons, an Englishman, came to China more than 20 years ago, he found no place to play football on weekends. At present, he is organizing clubs to promote football in Beijing. Simmons said: "In China, there is no community football. Only when the grassroots people generally carry out football can China football hope to win. " (Author Keith B. Richberg:: Translator Gu Lei)