CHINESE FOOTBALL - Why is it so weak? Or is it on the up?

China is a phenomenal country, but the football team is far from phenomenal. It is, in fact, bordering on a catastrophe.

I went to see Beijing Guoan in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday night. This is the Asian Champions League, a competition full of terrific, modern stadia and skilful, hard working footballers. It was an interesting experience, but an experience which left me pondering many unanswered questions. The state of the Chinese national team is at an all time low. They crashed out of the World Cup qualifiers in the preliminary stages, not even making it through to the final stages of qualifying. Despite drawing away to the reigning Asian Champions, Iraq, and beating Australia, they were twice beaten by Bahrain, a country of 670 000 people, compared to the 1.3 billion population of the People’s Republic. Football is a popular sport in China, and millions of people tune in to CCTV5 (the main domestic sports channel) and Beijing yun dong TV (the Beijing sports channel) on Saturday and Sunday nights. However, they are watching European Football. German, Spanish and Italian football, are extremely popular here, and the Premiership, although not shown live on regular terrestrial channels, is also massively popular, and can be seen on Pay TV. It is also, of course, screened live over the internet.

People here love Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona, Chelsea, AC Milan and Inter Milan, but they can’t truly relate to any of these teams. There are no Chinese players. Sun Jihai was a regular at right back for Manchester City between 2002 and 2006, whilst Li Tie was an Everton player for a couple of seasons during the middle of the decade. In fact, in December 2003, Everton and Manchester City played out a goalless draw in front of one of the biggest ever live TV audiences to watch football. It was the only time two Chinese players have faced each other in the Premiership for opposition teams. Just for the record it was a dreadful 0-0 draw, but it the huge TV audience demonstrated the passion that the Chinese have for football if they have just a little something to shout for. It just needs that extra edge.

Football here was on the up during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The women’s team were one of the best in the world, and the men qualified for their first ever World Cup finals in 2002. However, it does have to be stated that Japan and South Korea were co-hosts, therefore pre-qualifying and leaving a far easier path to qualification for the Chinese. Hopes were high for probably the first time in history, but they crashed out in the group stages, and most disappointingly of all, failed to score. Optimism was severely dampened. Despite reaching the Asian Cup Final in 2004, losing to Japan in Beijing (not popular here), China has been on a downward spiral ever since.

So why is Chinese football so weak? How can a country of 1.3 billion people not produce 11 very good footballers? Speaking to some Chinese football fans, they state, openly and honestly, a number of reasons, although some may contradict each other a little. A popular conclusion was that ‘cultural habits’ are an issue. They believe that China has become a very individualistic society and an almost obsessive and yuppie-ish (similar to 80s Britain under Thatcher) attitude towards money has developed. This has transmitted itself onto the football pitch and perhaps answers a few questions about the possible lack of team ethos in China.

Another common explanation was the perception of footballers in China. Young people are so often judged on their ability in the classroom and wanna-be footballers are looked down upon as dreamy and lazy. This may of course, be different if the Chinese football team was successful, but its not, and a footballer is not seen as a good career move.

Another issue that was mentioned was a lack of discipline. It is thought by many, that the decent wages footballers earn (not anywhere near European salaries, but substantial in China) convince them to lead ‘party’ lifestyles and they lose their focus at a young age. It is noticeable that the China Under 17 to Under 21 age groups are traditionally quite successful, do well in major tournaments, and often create false expectations. However, the early promise they demonstrate doesn’t materialize as they shift through their 20s.

I left the game on Wednesday raving about a young Beijing Guoan player, 21 years old called Huang Bowen. He was good in possession, could hit accurate long and short passes, executed beautiful delivery on set pieces and could strike a ball beautifully. He ran the game, and the Australian team, the Newcastle Jets, couldn’t get near him. I mentioned this to more than one Chinese football fan, and they all had the same answer. They grumbled that he is still young and hungry, but he will not develop. They argued that in few years time, he will be just another average, run of the mill player who didn’t live up to his potential.

The hugely successful Beijing Olympics have shown that Chinese sport, in general, is right at the top of the world ladder. However, team sports remain an issue. Basketball is the more popular team sport for teenagers and university students right now. Yao Ming playing in the NBA for the Houston Rockets has elevated the sport’s status to massive heights. They all tune into the NBA, and football (a love of the 90s generation) has taken a back seat. Basketball, despite being a team sport is more individualistic. You can produce moment of individual skill a lot more frequently in basketball and youngsters like this as it has the ‘aethstetically pleasing’ factor attached to it. Football requires more discipline and team work, and this is just not the current trend.

The Chinese football team has unfortunately, become the butt of many jokes. It is not taken seriously, and now people just expect them to lose. This is probably a de-motivating factor to want to become a footballer and the Chinese basketball team, although far from outstanding is competitive at least. They reached the quarter finals at the Beijing Olympics and the country went mad with excitement.

Actually watching the game in Gongti (the People’s Workers Stadium) on Tuesday, I did notice a lack of passion and interest among the crowd. People seemed to be at the game just because they wanted to have a good time and to socialize, more than support their local team. Of course they are welcome to enjoy the game, but coming from the UK, I could never imagine supporters of a team clinging onto a 1-0 lead in the Champions League so relaxed and blasé. It is of course, just a game, and as long as the people watching are enjoying themselves, that’s fine, but maybe that’s where the problem lies. Football in China is not a serious business, and if it isn’t taken seriously, it will probably not improve.

Beijing Guoan won the game 2-0, and Shanghai Shenhua also won their Champions League game this week. There is room for optimism, despite the national team currently down at 100th in the world rankings. Many of the better players were Chinese, and as well as Bowen, I was also very impressed the pace and close control of the right winger, Wang Chang qing and Lu Jiang, the tidy midfield player. I thought to myself, if Wang Chang qing cannot get in the Chinese team, they must be pretty good. The ranking and results however, suggest otherwise.

I am not claiming to be an expert on Chinese football, but having lived in China for many years, I feel I am somewhat familiar with the psyche of the Chinese people. Beijing Guoan impressed me more than I expected, and China, unlike maybe Japan, due to its vast population, should have players who are physically strong as well as skilful. It remains a mystery why the national team under-performs so much, and are not even ranked in Asia’s top 10. However, if the public can just show a little more belief and optimism in the football team, I believe they have they personnel capable of achieving a a lot more.

They are as we are say in England ‘a sleeping giant’ of the beautiful game.