Chinese President Xi Jinping, an avid soccer fan, pledged in a 2015 doc to revive the nationwide males’s crew, which had been stricken by poor international performances and widespread corruption in native leagues.
He’s unlikely to be happy.
On Thursday, Japan handed China a crushing 7-0 defeat in a World Cup qualifier in Saitama. This brutal loss, suffered in opposition to considered one of China’s main sports activities and geopolitical rivals in Asia, marks China’s most lopsided defeat by Japan and a historic low in World Cup qualifying.
China’s nationwide crew coach, Branko Ivankovic of Croatia, known as it a “most difficult night,” as quoted in English by the official Xinhua news agency, which termed the loss “humiliating.”
Wataru Endo and Kaoru Mitoma scored within the first half. Takumi Minamino added two objectives within the second half, with further objectives from Daizen Maeda, Junya Ito, and Takefusa Kubo.
Reaction in China was muted on state media. The China Sports Daily revealed a quick story titled “China Lost to Japan in World Cup Qualifier” with few particulars.
However, there was extra dialogue on Chinese social media.
Zhang Feng, a journalist and commentator with a preferred weblog, was direct.
“Football cannot be boosted by singing odes or telling stories,” he wrote. “It wants talent, and bodily and tactical coaching. It can’t be achieved by means of politics.”
Tang Yinghong, a prolific author with a big following, steered soccer isn’t match for China, which received 40 gold medals within the current Paris Olympics to tie with the United States. Some of these medals had been in sports activities like diving, which do not need a big international following.
“In my opinion, let’s just let football develop on its own,” Tang wrote. “Leaders shouldn’t place excessive hopes on the game, and the federal government needn’t give it plenty of care.”
China has 9 extra qualifying matches remaining and nonetheless has a shot at reaching the expanded, 48-team World Cup in 2026, hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. But even with the bigger and weakened discipline, China may nonetheless not make it.
China has certified solely as soon as for the World Cup, dropping all three matches in 2002 and failing to attain a aim.
China is No. 87 in the latest FIFA rankings for males’s groups, just under the Caribbean island of Curacao (inhabitants 150,000) and simply above the African nation of Equatorial Guinea (1.7 million). China’s inhabitants is about 1.4 billion.
Source: www.dailysabah.com