FA chief vows to take China to World Cup final qualifying round

BEIJING -- Chinese Football Association (CFA) chief has vowed that its men's team will go all out to reach the final round of the Asian zone 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

China will play against Guam, the Maldives, the Philippines, and Syria in the remaining Asian Group A World Cup qualifiers, which will be staged in the east Chinese city of Suzhou from May 30 to June 15.

Even though China is currently eight points adrift of group leader Syria and only leads the Philippines on goal difference, CFA president Chen Xuyuan is confident that the Chinese team will advance to the final qualification round.

"There's no reason (for China) not to make it to the next round," Chen told Xinhua.

"First of all, Team China has the capability of qualifying. Secondly, the players have trained and prepared for more than a year with this firm goal. The coaching staff has also drawn lessons from past success and failure. The CFA has been working with Team China to provide the most professional resources possible."

"We often say we need to let the people see Chinese football is making progress. But if we get eliminated at this stage, the others will think we must be slipping instead of improving," he added.

There are 40 teams divided into eight groups at this stage of the Asian qualifying tournaments. The group winners will advance directly to the final round, while the four best group runners-up will also qualify.

China will have to keep a perfect record in the last phase as any loss or draw in the last four games would likely eliminate them from the competition.

"I look forward to the games, and I'm confident that the players will do well," said Chen.

He also confirmed that the CFA has earmarked prize money totaling 12 million RMB (about $1.8 millio) to motivate the team.

"You can't say it's a big sum. I believe it's a rational sum," said Chen.

A lack of focus on developing homegrown talent and general football participation among the public is widely considered a root cause for China's underachievement in football.

Chen said that the CFA will make more efforts in fostering young talent. A nationwide youth league will be rolled out this year, with unified standards for all campus teams and academy teams across the country.

Meanwhile, permanent elite training camps will be established for different age groups all over the country, where youths will be able to train on a regular basis instead of the current short-term camps.

Another major task for the CFA is to select young talent and send them to train and gain experience overseas. "Our plan is to send dozens of young players to study and train abroad in the next year or two," said Chen.

Youth development is a matter of the present as well as a matter of the future, he noted. "Whether or not Chinese football will shock the world all depends on how we do in fostering the young talent at the moment."