In 2023, the picture of Chinese soccer is covered with gloom. A series of problems have erupted and deep-rooted conflicts have been revealed, making "fake", "ugly" and "black" synonymous with the soccer world. Public trust is shaken and skepticism about performance is rampant, leading to a loss of confidence in the team. Indecisiveness on the field of play and controversy off the field have caused the cause of Chinese soccer to suffer a severe blow.
The national soccer team's absence at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been the focus of accusations and the subject of much banter over the years. The local tournament has been riddled with scandals, particularly match-fixing, unpaid wages and high-level violations, which have frustrated supporters. Obviously, these problems are not the responsibility of individual organizations or individuals, but are systemic and comprehensive. Reform is therefore imperative, with new management and institutions gradually coming to the fore.
Faced with the former chaos, the new team is difficult to show results in the short term. Following the traditional Chinese philosophical concept of "fix the house before inviting guests", Song Kai has proposed a series of relatively conservative reform measures. As he puts it, "Chinese soccer can't afford another upheaval!"
In men's soccer, World Cup qualifying is underway and the results of the first two matches have largely met expectations. But the statement of failure of the naturalization policy has left many fans outraged. Investing huge sums of money without seeing results is a situation that no one can accept. In addition, the performance of youth teams at all levels is also worrying. For example, the national Olympic team, after a long period of preparation, showed a poor performance, even against Tajikistan, let alone other strong opponents, and the U23 Asian Cup was divided into the "group of death", and the future is full of uncertainty.
In the Asian Games, the loss of the national football team was not a glowing one. Although Djurdjevic led the team to gain some support, we appeared to be out of our depth in the face of strong teams such as South Korea, and the obvious gap was saddening. This was also reflected in the provocation and defiance of the opponents before the national soccer team played Thailand, and their progress made them burst with self-confidence, a conceit that seemed particularly ironic.
The much-anticipated Chinese women's soccer team is also not doing as well as it should. The poor performance in all three competitions reflects that the level of Chinese women's soccer is no longer the world's first-class, and can even be said to be second-class. They were eliminated by England in the group stage of the World Cup, lost to Japan's second team at home in the Asian Games, and were eliminated from the Olympic qualifying rounds, leaving them with strength problems that need to be solved.
Although the firing of the head coach was inevitable, it does not mean a new chapter and hope for women's soccer. They need to address issues such as talent development, team building and how to raise the attention of the women's soccer league. There is no clear answer as to who they will work with to coach the women's soccer team and how they will choose their future path. The disappointment of the main players and Wang Frost's post-game speech are worth pondering over, and only those who have experienced the game firsthand can truly understand what the problem is. We should pay attention to the issues raised by them, and it is not enough to rely only on the spirit of victory.
In general, China's soccer career has encountered many difficulties in the process of development, with problems in both men's and women's soccer. This poses a huge challenge to the new management team, who need to rely on professionals; slogans and mental strength alone are not enough.
