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<br>In April, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited a company that makes humanoid robots. There he floated a concept to repair the nation's woeful men's soccer team.<br>
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<br>"Can we have robotics join the team?" Xi was priced quote as saying on the site of Zhiyuan Robotics.<br>
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<br>It might be far too late. China will be out of World Cup qualifying if it fails to beat Indonesia on Thursday. Even a success might only delay the [departure](https://anyhouses.com).<br>
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<br>What's the problem? China has 1.4 billion people, the world's second biggest economy and won 40 Olympic gold medals last year in Paris to tie the United States. Why can't it discover 11 elite guys's soccer players?<br>
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<br>The government touches every element of life in China. That top-down control has helped China end up being the largest producer of everything from [electronic devices](https://avcorrealty.com) to shoes to steel.<br>
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<br>It has attempted to run soccer, however that rigid governance hasn't worked.<br>
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<br>"What soccer shows is the social and political problems of China," Zhang Feng, a Chinese reporter and analyst, informs The Associated Press. "It ´ s not a complimentary society. It doesn't have the team-level trust that enables gamers to pass the ball to each other without fretting."<br>
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<br>Zhang argues that politics has stalled soccer's development. And there's added pressure because Xi's a huge fan and has actually assured to resuscitate the game in the house. Soccer is a world language with its "own grammar," states Zhang, and China doesn't speak it.<br>
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<br>"In China, the more focus the leader put on soccer, the more nervous the society gets, the more power the bureaucrats get, and the more corrupt they become," Zhang includes.<br>
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<br>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.<br>
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<br>The consensus is clear. China has too couple of quality players at the turf roots, too much political disturbance from the Communist Party, and there's too much corruption in the regional game.<br>
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<br>Wang Xiaolei, another prominent Chinese commentator, recommends that soccer clashes with China's top-down governance and the focus on rote learning.<br>
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<br>"What are we best at? Dogma," Wang wrote in a blog last year. "But football can not be dogmatic. What are we worst at? Inspiring resourcefulness, and cultivating enthusiasm."<br>
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<br>The most recent chapter in China's abysmal males's soccer history was a 7-0 loss in 2015 to geopolitical rival Japan.<br>
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<br>"The fact that this defeat can take place and people aren ´ t that shocked - despite the historical displeasure - simply highlights the issues facing football in China," says [Cameron](https://properties.shabs.co.za) Wilson, a Scot who has operated in China for 20 years and composed extensively about the game there.<br>
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<br>China has received only one [males's](https://inmobiliariahauser.com.uy) World Cup. That was 2002 when it went [scoreless](https://rentlux.it) and lost all three matches. Soccer's governing body FIFA positions China at No. 94 in its rankings - behind war-torn Syria and ahead of No. 95 Benin.<br>
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<br>For point of view: Iceland is the tiniest country to reach the World Cup. Its latest [population](https://boldhillzproperties.com.ng) price quote is nearly 400,000.<br>
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<br>The site Soccerway tracks worldwide football and doesn't reveal a single Chinese player in a top European league. The nationwide team's best player is forward Wu Lei, who played for 3 seasons in La Liga for Espanyol. The club's majority owner in Chinese.<br>
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<br>The 2026 World Cup will have a field of 48 teams, a big boost on the 32 in 2022, yet China still might not make it.<br>
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<br>China will be eliminated from [qualification](https://theveteranteam.thatfreelancelady.com) if it loses to [Indonesia](https://www.globalimobil.com). Even if it wins, China must likewise beat Bahrain on June 10 to have any hope of advancing to Asia's next qualifying phase.<br>
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<br>Englishman Rowan Simons has spent practically 40 years in China and gained popularity doing tv commentary in Chinese on English Premier League matches. He likewise wrote the 2008 book "Bamboo Goalposts."<br>
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<br>China is benefiting from reforms over the last years that put soccer in schools. But Simons argues that soccer culture grows from volunteers, civil society and club organizations, none of which can flourish in China because they are possible challengers to the guideline of the Communist Party.<br>
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<br>"In China at the age of 12 or 13, when kids go to intermediate school, it ´ s understood as the cliff," he states. "Parents may permit their kids to play sports when they ´ re younger, but as quickly as it comes to middle school the academic pressure is on - things like sport pass the wayside."<br>
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<br>To be reasonable, the Chinese [females's](https://lelaa.khestcorp.com) group has actually done better than the guys. China ended up runner-up in the 1999 Women's World Cup however has actually faded as European groups have actually surged with built-in know-how from the guys's game. Spain won the 2023 Women's World Cup. China was knocked out early, battered 6-1 by England in group play.<br>
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<br>China has achieved success [targeting](https://yourlandstore.co.uk) Olympic sports, some of which are reasonably unknown and count on repetitive training more than imagination. Olympic team sports like soccer deal just one medal. So, like many nations, China concentrates on sports with multiple medals. In China's case it's diving, table tennis and weight-lifting.<br>
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<br>"For young people, there's a single worth - testing well," states Zhang, the commentator and reporter. "China would be OK if playing soccer were only about bouncing the ball 1,000 times."<br>
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<br>Li Tie, the national group coach for about two years beginning in January 2020, was in 2015 sentenced to 20 years in jail for bribery and match repairing. Other leading administrators have likewise been implicated of corruption.<br>
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<br>The graft also reached the domestic Super League. Clubs spent millions - possibly billions - on foreign skills backed by lots of state-owned organizations and, before the collapse of the housing boom, real-estate developers.<br>
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<br>The poster kid was Guangzhou Evergrande. The eight-time Super League champs, when coached by Italian Marcello Lippi, was expelled from the league and disbanded earlier this year, not able to settle its debts.<br>
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<br>Zhang says entrepreneurs bought expert soccer teams as a "political tribute" and mentioned Hui Ka-yan. The embattled real estate developer funded the Guangzhou Evergrande Football Club and used soccer to win favor from political leaders.<br>
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<br>Residential or commercial property giant Evergrande has amassed financial obligations reported at $300 billion, reflective of China ´ s [battered residential](https://propertycatalog.co.za) or [commercial property](https://primehomes.co.ke) sector and the basic health of the economy.<br>
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<br>"China ´ s failure at the worldwide level and corruption throughout the game, these are all aspects that lead moms and dads far from letting their kids get included," says Simons, who established a youth soccer club called China Club [Football FC](https://www.almirath.ae).<br>
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<br>"Parents look at what ´ s going on and question if they desire their kids to be involved. It ´ s sad and frustrating."<br>
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<br>Wade reported from Tokyo and Tang from [Washington](https://primehomes.co.ke).<br>
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<br>___<br>
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<br>AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer<br>
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