Chinese soccer came out with breaking news on July 31, when former national team captain Sun Jihai made controversial remarks about Chinese soccer. Sun Jihai said that Chinese soccer nowadays should not rush to think about participating in the World Cup, but should focus on laying a good foundation. His statement caused a lot of controversy.
As we all know, the national soccer team not only returned from the last world qualifying tournament, but also lost to Vietnam on the first day of the new year. In addition, the Chinese Super League is in disarray, with frequent problems of unpaid wages. Big-name foreign aiders are leaving in droves. It can be said that Chinese soccer has fallen to its lowest point. However, with Jankovic as the head coach of the national soccer team and naturalized players such as Ackerson and Fernando returning to play in the Chinese Super League, the number of places in the Asian World Cup was increased to 8.5, which greatly increased the national soccer team's hopes of reaching the 2026 World Cup, but now Sun Jihai has given a different answer.
Sun Jihai said in this regard: "Now Chinese soccer do not think about the World Cup, forget about 2026, 2030 and 2034, rooted in youth training, sink your heart and lay a good foundation. At the same time, Sun Jihai also said that if the youth training is not done well, there will be no players, if you can not form a good team, you will not win. If Chinese soccer wants to grow and return to the ranks of the strongest teams in Asia, it is necessary to pay attention to youth training, but do not be in a hurry. It's a long process.
From Sun Jihai's words, we can see that now we need to build a good foundation and do a good job in youth training, rather than thinking about entering the World Cup, so that we can return to the Asian powerhouse and enter the World Cup. Although Sun Jihai did not disclose specific information, his statement not only dealt a major blow to Jankovic, but also surprised national soccer players Wu Xi, Wu Lei and Zhang Yuning, attracting many fans.
Some fans say, "This is the right solution. If you're always thinking about fruit, you'd better think more about how you're going to turn the soil, fertilize and plant the seedlings. If these parts are done properly, the fruit will come out. Otherwise, if you're lucky enough to make it to the World Cup, you won't do any better and you'll be even more embarrassed!" Some fans said:Â "Now in the soccer world, Sun Jihai is doing business, he does not seek fame and notoriety. Sun Jihai is an experienced man. He sees through the current level of the national football team, and naturalizing Messi and Crow together won't get you into the World Cup. It's better to put energy and money into 10 year olds. As long as he has players like Crow and Messi in his youth training, he will get into the World Cup."
Of course, there are also fans like this: "The main problem is that these retired players, a brain into the youth training, has been detached from modern soccer, they do not go to improve themselves, directly on the next generation of bad influence, Li Tie is a good example!" "Why hold back on entering the World Cup, only then can we promote the development of Chinese soccer, so that more children can see the hope to play soccer!"
