A Soccer Mystery: why Mighty China Fails at The World's Biggest Sport
In April, Chinese President Xi Jinping went to a business that makes humanoid robotics. There he floated a concept to repair the nation's woeful guys's soccer team.
"Can we have robotics join the team?" Xi was estimated as stating on the site of Zhiyuan Robotics.
It may be too late. China will run out World Cup qualifying if it fails to beat Indonesia on Thursday. Even a triumph might only delay the departure.
What's the issue? China has 1.4 billion people, the world's second largest economy and won 40 Olympic gold medals last year in Paris to tie the United States. Why can't it discover 11 elite males's soccer players?
The government touches every element of life in China. That top-down control has actually assisted China become the largest manufacturer of everything from electronics to shoes to steel.
It has attempted to run soccer, however that stiff governance hasn't worked.
"What soccer reflects is the social and political problems of China," Zhang Feng, a Chinese journalist and analyst, informs The Associated Press. "It ยด s not a free society. It does not have the team-level trust that permits players to pass the ball to each other without fretting."
Zhang argues that politics has stalled soccer's development. And there's added pressure since Xi's a huge fan and has actually guaranteed to resuscitate the game in your home. Soccer is a world language with its "own grammar," states Zhang, and China does not speak it.
"In China, the more emphasis the leader places on soccer, the more anxious the society gets, the more power the bureaucrats get, and the more corrupt they become," Zhang adds.
After China beat 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 said.
The consensus is clear.
In April, Chinese President Xi Jinping went to a business that makes humanoid robotics. There he floated a concept to repair the nation's woeful guys's soccer team.
"Can we have robotics join the team?" Xi was estimated as stating on the site of Zhiyuan Robotics.
It may be too late. China will run out World Cup qualifying if it fails to beat Indonesia on Thursday. Even a triumph might only delay the departure.
What's the issue? China has 1.4 billion people, the world's second largest economy and won 40 Olympic gold medals last year in Paris to tie the United States. Why can't it discover 11 elite males's soccer players?
The government touches every element of life in China. That top-down control has actually assisted China become the largest manufacturer of everything from electronics to shoes to steel.
It has attempted to run soccer, however that stiff governance hasn't worked.
"What soccer reflects is the social and political problems of China," Zhang Feng, a Chinese journalist and analyst, informs The Associated Press. "It ยด s not a free society. It does not have the team-level trust that permits players to pass the ball to each other without fretting."
Zhang argues that politics has stalled soccer's development. And there's added pressure since Xi's a huge fan and has actually guaranteed to resuscitate the game in your home. Soccer is a world language with its "own grammar," states Zhang, and China does not speak it.
"In China, the more emphasis the leader places on soccer, the more anxious the society gets, the more power the bureaucrats get, and the more corrupt they become," Zhang adds.
After China beat 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 said.
The consensus is clear.