Youth training comes of age

On the women's side, China is having a hard time trying to revive the Steel Roses' former glories, which include runner-up finishes at the 1996 Olympics and the 1999 World Cup.

All these struggles on the international stage point to inadequate youth training, despite recent attempts to learn from world soccer powerhouses, the introduction of foreign training systems and sending China's most promising youngsters abroad to learn their trade.

The Chinese Super League, meanwhile, has endeavored to level up by employing some of the world's most renowned coaches, including Italian World Cup winner Marcello Lippi and former Liverpool and Real Madrid boss Rafa Benitez.

"What truly matters is to find a way that's suitable for the development of our domestic players," said Gao. "Our Chinese kids' advantages are flexibility and speed. Our youth training philosophies have been informed by the experiences of Japan, the UK and Germany. But we should not just directly copy these for our country. We have to refine the details to make these methods fit our situation."

The new training blueprint recommends a development model that is divided into five categories－skills, tactics, body strength, mentality and social skills. It also stresses that youth coaches should not rely on match results as the sole gauge of players.

"Youth coaches should not make match results the No 1 criterion. Having good results in the very early stage does not mean a player is a true talent. But if you cultivate true talent, he or she will eventually shine... We can't just simply think about how to select some kids to win a particular competition," said Gao.