China

Big loss highlights flawed Olympic plan

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-18 10:04

FOSHAN, Guangdong province - The Chinese Olympic soccer team's humiliating loss to German club Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday has added extra pressure on new soccer chief Wei Di, who has been under fire since making a proposal to have the Olympic team play in the Chinese Super League (CSL).

Due to the CSL teams' refusals to release their best players, the squad was crushed 6-1 by the German side in Foshan.

However, Wei, the head of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), insisted he would stick with his plan and organize a series of games for the Olympic team against CSL teams during the season break.

"The problem reflected by the drubbing today is a lack of experience playing high-level matches, so we have to provide more chances for the Olympic squad to play competitive games," said a gloomy-faced Wei after the 6-1 loss.

Wei confirmed his plan would be put into action next month during the World Cup.

However, there are increasing concerns that his plan will fail as the best players for the Olympics might not be allowed to join the team's training camp as their clubs will be relying on them to play in the CSL.

Liu Chunming, head coach of the Olympic team, has already complained he is short-handed.

"The absence of many key members in the starting line-up was the primary reason for our failure. But I have no way to deal with it as their clubs had matches at the weekend," said Liu, who tried to call up a full-stregnth line-up but saw 12 players unable to attend.

Through the joint efforts of the CFA and Bayer, Leverkusen have two friendly matches with the Olympic and national teams. The second match, against the national team, will be held on Wednesday in Jiangyin, Jiangsu province.

Leverkusen will also visit three schools in Beijing, Foshan and Shanghai as part of their efforts to support the sport's development here.