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on the evening of september 10, the chinese national football team played against the powerful saudi arabian team in dalian. even though a saudi player was sent off for violating regulations, the team still lost 1:2. for the majority of football fans, the scar of the 0:7 loss to japan a few days ago has not yet healed, and today can be regarded as another blow. some netizens said, "this game is better than expected, and it is considered an improvement", while others joked, "you can always believe in chinese football."

yesterday, at the press conference on the special campaign to rectify the problem of "fake gambling and black" in the professional football league, the disciplinary punishment of 61 football practitioners involved in the case was reported. former national team players and foreign players were involved in the case, which caused an uproar in public opinion. many fans expressed their grief, saying that "where the footwork should be used, the brain was used in the wrong place."

this also makes us think deeply, what happened to chinese football? can the national football team get better?

in the match on the evening of september 10, the chinese national football team lost 1-2 to saudi arabia. source: visual china

question 1: the country is obviously prosperous, so why can’t it handle a single ball?

after the men's football team's defeat, many netizens were left wondering, "it seems that we are in a dilemma of life-and-death battle no matter which team we play against", and some even said, "what international fame!" this kind of humor also shows everyone's confusion about the mismatch and disproportion between the men's football team's performance and my country's overall strength and international status.

generally speaking, big countries have certain advantages in sports funding, talent pool, and venue construction. why is the development of football so difficult? we have analyzed the main reasons in articles such as "let's talk about football on weekends" and "playing football or reading?" for example, there are many chaos in the chinese football ecology from player selection, coach appointment to event arrangement, including corruption.

compared with football powers, the chinese national football team still has much room for improvement in terms of technology, tactics, system construction and other aspects. overall, the football youth training system is still imperfect, the football talent base is small and the selection range is narrow; at the player and team level, there are problems such as lack of professional awareness and professionalism, lax team style and constant infighting. at present, our country has been constantly taking action to "clear mines" in related fields around the sustainable and healthy development of football, and has introduced a series of measures and policies to make up for the shortcomings.

question 2: since the national system has achieved remarkable results, why do we still insist on using the league mechanism?

china is a sports powerhouse, with internationally renowned sports such as table tennis and diving, and these advantageous sports are supported by a national system, which pools human, material and financial resources to provide support for the construction of sports infrastructure, the deployment of coaching teams, and the selection and training of athletes. so why does football continue to implement a market-oriented league mechanism?

firstly, this is determined by the "foundation" required for football. compared with sports such as diving and weightlifting, which can focus on cultivating elite players, football emphasizes teamwork and requires a large number of registered players as support. but at present, chinese football is very short of excellent alternative talents. according to statistics in 2022, there are more than 260,000 registered players in china, including more than 3,200 professional players and more than 100,000 young players under the age of 16.

secondly, the reason why football has become the "world's number one sport" is inseparable from its high-intensity confrontation and ups and downs of competition. in the professional league, football players can compete with others more fully to a certain extent, and draw full incentives from the market mechanism to improve their level and make great progress.

it is true that although the league mechanism is good, there is still a big gap between my country's football and the world's top level in terms of league scale and connection mechanism. the big framework is there, but the inside is empty and the foundation is not solid. under such circumstances, it is also necessary to simultaneously give play to the advantages of the national system to cultivate football reserve talents. the "opinions on the implementation of the reform and development of chinese youth football" issued in march this year clearly stated that it is necessary to adhere to the combination of the national system and the market mechanism and mobilize all forces to develop the cause of youth football.

on the evening of september 10, fans held up banners in the stands to support chinese football. source: xinhua news agency

question 3: young people are obviously very good, so why can’t adults play like them?

in online short videos, we often see many young people playing in some baseball fields and training camps, showing their vigor and enthusiasm, which makes people exclaim that "there is hope for the chinese national football team." at the same time, we are puzzled. china seems to have no shortage of talented "good seedlings", but why can't they grow into "towering trees" in the football arena?

as mentioned earlier, there are not many teenagers in china who play football all year round. what we see on the online platform is actually the part under the "survivor bias". in terms of the comparison between china and japan, japan's total population is less than one-tenth of china's, but the number of chinese youth players is less than one-tenth of japan's. behind this, there is a certain connection with the social concepts of most people. just imagine, how many parents can accept that their children devote themselves to football and even ignore cultural courses, but their future may not be guaranteed? football is naturally good as a hobby to strengthen the body, but if it is used as a life plan, the investment cost is high, the training cycle is long, and the success rate is low. it seems reasonable to love but not choose and not go deep.

on the other hand, this is also closely related to the selection mechanism and training system of football players, such as over-emphasis on early specialization and unscientific evaluation system for players. at the same time, the level of coaches and training matches is uneven.

football is ultimately a professional competitive sport. some young players can stand out on the field with their excellent physical conditions or technical advantages during their teenage years, but professional games test tactical arrangements, overall situation, judgment and other strategic awareness. this is why some streetball players with outstanding skills and gorgeous moves tend to "fail" when they enter the professional arena. if you want to play football well, you must have skills, military tactics and "football quotient".

at a youth football invitational tournament, a player kicks off the game. image source: wechat public account of "learning power"

question 4: why is football always so weak when other sports can break records repeatedly?

many sports in my country are at the world's top level. in the paris olympics that just ended not long ago, the chinese delegation won 40 gold medals, many of which were traditionally strong western sports. even tennis, which started late, has made history. in comparison, the dismal performance of football is particularly striking. one can't help but ask: why did this happen?

this starts with the history of chinese football development. the professionalization reform of the national football team began in 1992, but it took more than 30 years. as a breakthrough in sports reform, chinese football proposed early on that the association should be substantiated and the league should be professionalized, and that it should be self-financing through broadcasting rights, advertising, tickets, etc. the marketization reform of youth training also started early, and since then, football schools in various places have mainly relied on tuition and transfer fees to survive.

in fact, it is difficult for market-oriented football schools to obtain short-term returns, and huge amounts of money need to be invested continuously. in the short term, the football business often loses money to gain publicity. once it encounters difficulties, after a period of turmoil in the capital market, most of them end up closing down.

in addition, football clubs and football schools, with their social influence, may also be involved with local governments and football associations. it can be said that the football industry, which is linked by interests, has always been undercurrents, has failed to form a fair and transparent industry management mechanism, and there are some gray areas in supervision. on this development track, the "performance output" of chinese football is naturally not optimistic.

image source: ic photo

question 5: why do we still pay so much attention to football when we are clearly “disappointed” with it?

after the chinese national football team lost the 1990 beijing asian games, the spring festival gala crosstalk "the best of the asian games" joked, "what's the stinkiest?" "the chinese men's football team's final kick was the stinkiest." for more than 30 years, people have been making up jokes about the chinese national football team. complaints and expectations go hand in hand, as they did then and as they do now.

the reason why people pay so much attention to the chinese national football team may be because the significance of the national football team has long surpassed the game itself. it not only includes the people's trust and attention to the "national" sports, but is also closely related to the macro-strategy of building a sports power.

looking at the sports with the prefix "national", the most common ones are "national table tennis", "national badminton" and "national football". since they have the title of "national", it means that the people have more expectations and higher requirements for these sports; and looking at the bigger picture, china is committed to significantly improving the overall quality and efficiency of sports development by 2030, and building a socialist modern sports power by 2035. football occupies an extremely important position in the international sports world, and we must make up for the shortcomings of football.

as the saying goes, "the deeper the love, the more severe the criticism." it is normal for public opinion to surge after the loss in the game. "attention" means that there is always an expectation. and "blame" and "ridicule" are also a kind of concern.

in fact, if you look closely at the various comments online and offline, each word actually expresses one meaning: the chinese men's football team must not lose heart, must not "give up", and will one day be able to truly "rise up".we never demand that the chinese national football team not lose a game, but we hope to see the players try their best and fight back on the field. this is also the spirit of us chinese people.

"it is more important to be brave than to correct mistakes." in the face of setbacks, the chinese people have always dared to face up to their weaknesses. what the chinese national football team needs to do next is to cherish the expectations of the chinese people, and improve their technical strategies and boost their spirits through constant review and reflection. after all, over the years, although chinese fans often joke that "there is not much time left for the chinese team," they actually always have expectations for "turning the tide against the wind."