Soccer glory hope pinned on young players

Xie Hui, 51, top scorer for China in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifying tournament, called for building a more robust, grassroots-led talent pipeline.

"We need to invest more in our young people and, quite encouragingly, that's been a consensus within the nation's sporting community. We've seen some positive signs," said Xie, who contributed seven goals during China's qualifying campaign 24 years ago, but was dropped from the final World Cup team roster due to injury.

"I think the examples of the world's best teams, such as Spain — and those other fast-improving nations — have all proved that there is no shortcut to success," he added.

On a more positive note, Xie pointed out that China's Under-17 squad made it to the Asian Cup final in May and, thereby, secured a spot in the U17 World Cup scheduled before the end of the year in Qatar. The Chinese U23 soccer squad also reached the Asian Cup final in that age category in January, making it a first for the team in 22 years. These achievements bode well for the revival of Chinese men's soccer on the global stage, he said.

The inspiring campaigns pulled off by the two youth squads, despite both losing to continental powerhouse Japan in their respective finals, have lifted the spirits of the whole nation, offering Chinese fans a rare reason to celebrate after years of watching and supporting the painfully underachieving senior men's national team.

Sun, the former national defender, who in recent years has been running youth training programs in his native Liaoning province, in Yunnan province and in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, said, "I think we have a lot to learn from our neighbors Japan and South Korea, who have made it to the World Cup regularly."

He added, "Only by making soccer more popular among children on school campuses — and everywhere else in the country — do we stand a chance of joining the world's best."

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn