Why can't our soccer be as good as table tennis, badminton, volleyball or even tennis?
Media personality Zhao Zhen says: Zheng Qinwen watched Li Na win a Grand Slam and resolved to become a professional tennis player. Pan Zhanle said at the age of 10 that she would be faster than Sun Yang in the future. That's the role of a sports icon. Most of the time, catching up with an idol is the last willpower they need to persevere through brutal training and their initial passion to play the sport. So with our soccer, we lack achievements and we lack idols.
It's reasonable, but it's also biased.
In the case of women's soccer, we've had our share of accomplishments and idols lately.
At the 1996 Olympics, we reached the final for the first time, almost beating the United States for the gold medal. At the 2022 Asian Cup, the Chinese women's soccer team beat Japan and South Korea to win the title.From 1986-1999, the Chinese women's soccer team won seven consecutive Asian Cups.
Not a bad result for an Asian champion, right? In addition, the idol, in recent years, almost all the girls take Wang Shuang as their role model. As a female soccer star, Wang Shuang is really a good role model.
Comparatively speaking, the men's soccer team is really terrible, we haven't achieved anything since the 2002 World Cup. When it comes to idols, there are basically none, not top Asian players like Yung Chi-Hsing, Lin Qiang, Fan Zhiyi, and not players like Zhang Yuning, who is a power + idol like that. Today's professional players, who are selected for the national team, have very average results and average level, but many professional players, many negative things outside the international field often become a hot spot.
While young boys playing soccer can also idolize Ronaldo and Messi, they still lack a sense of identity and honor. We can produce a few Sun Sungs and Lee Gang In like Korea and a few Three Times Kaoru and Kubo Kenyoung like Japan. We can beat Germany and Spain in the World Cup like Korea and Japan, which is very different.
If we can advance to the 2026 World Cup, I believe countless children will fall in love with soccer and start playing it, and countless parents will support their children in playing soccer. It will have a far greater impact and influence than table tennis, swimming or even tennis winning gold medals at the Olympics. After all, soccer is the first real sport in the world.
