Currently.
World Cup
The tournament is in full swing and teams from all sides are hotly debated, however China
male stepchildren
But it has become the subject of a lot of publicity. The populace is not happy with the
national soccer team
The disappointment was overwhelming, and in order to save the
national soccer team
We have made many efforts, including hiring foreign coaches.
Thirty years ago, Schlapner was invited to China as a "savior" and was treated with respect and high expectations by the fans.
Schlapner, however, is an "international fraudster" and his so-called "savior" is a fleeting meteor.
Klaus Schlapner, born in Germany in May 1942, played in a soccer club as a youth, but never achieved significant success, not even in the German first division.
Retiring at the age of 24, Schlapner turned to professional soccer coaching. For many years thereafter, he worked as a coach in Germany, but remained quiet.
It wasn't until 1984 that Schlapner, who had been dormant for many years, became the coach of Germany's Waldhof, a team he led to the German Bundesliga that year and won several awards.
Nonetheless, Schlapner's strengths have not been recognized, and there are still many equally good coaches in Germany.
In 1984, Schlapner led the team on a visit to China, where they participated in and won the Great Wall Cup, leaving a lasting impression on Chinese fans.
In the 1990s, Chinese soccer was not yet professionalized, and Chinese teams had no chance of winning against mature teams such as Germany, which made fans feel helpless.
German general Beckenbauer led the German team to win the World Cup in 1990, and for a while Germany became the "holy land" in the hearts of soccer fans.
Chinese fans have developed a cult following for German soccer, calling for the hiring of German coaches in a bid to improve Chinese soccer.
Against this background, Schlapner was asked to coach in China. He visited China a couple of years ago and impressed the fans with the fact that, although he is only a "third-rate" coach in Germany, he is one of the best for the Chinese fans.
Schlapner was undaunted by the invitation. He thought he had a lot of talent, and today he finally met his soulmate and came to China confidently, no less than Beckenbauer.
In order for Schlapner to be willing to coach in China, Shanghai Volkswagen president Fang Hong sponsored the FA by paying his retainer.
In 1992, at the age of 52, Schlapner arrived in China and was welcomed with the highest level of hospitality.
He arrived in Beijing on a special plane, and when he stepped off the plane, a red carpet covered the steps, and many fans spontaneously formed a welcoming procession, a huge scene.
Once Schlapner took over, he began to use the German soccer philosophy and training methods on the
national soccer team
The transformation has been carried out with remarkable results.
He promoted the "Panther Spirit": hard work, never give up, and perseverance. He once said: "If you don't know where to kick the ball, kick it at the opponent's goal."
Schlapner vs.
national soccer team
He is so hands-on that he keeps detailed records of each player's physical condition, and he also prepares special recipes for the players and manages their living and living.
In a few short months.
national soccer team
A new look and a third-place finish in the Asian Cup competition gave fans confidence in Schlapner.
Schlapner also became the most popular and discussed foreigner, and was honored by fans as the "Football Baichun". He also appeared in the Spring Festival Gala, where he was the subject of a comedy by Niu Qun and Feng Gong.
Schrappner's gray hair was auctioned off for a whopping $50,000, and his popularity was at its peak, with the nation talking about him and expecting him to lead the
national soccer team
Reach the World Cup final.
However, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. After all, Schlapner is just a coach, he is neither a god nor a "savior", but just a capable foreign coach.
May 1993
World Cup
On the qualifiers.
national soccer team
Against Irbid, it was an unexpected loss, which means China will not be in this World Cup.
After the World Cup loss, those who had supported Schlapner began to attack him, arguing that he should be held responsible.
Schlapner was reduced from head coach to "consultant", which was in fact an unprofessional position with no real power. When his contract expired, he returned to Germany.
According to media reports, Schlapner left China in grand style, receiving a wide variety of gifts, including expensive furniture, jewelry and antiques.
Schlapner was presented with a car by the federation that said "Out of Asia", which he also brought back to Germany.
After the failure of hiring a "foreign manager", people's anger towards Schlapner did not diminish, thinking that he is an "international liar", cheating fans' feelings and money.
In fact, although Schlapner is not considered a top coach, he is not a fraud either. He has been coaching in Germany for many years and has made some achievements, and before he came to China, he was named "Germany's top ten soccer coaches of the year".
His arrival did alleviate the lack of professionalism and specialization in Chinese soccer to a certain extent by introducing German soccer concepts and training methods.
There is indeed a huge gap between Chinese and German soccer, and our goal is to reach the World Cup finals, no matter what place we finish.
Schlapner's help as a German coach can't be denied, but we can't pin all our hopes on him, and it wouldn't be fair to Schlapner.
A lot of factors need to be taken into consideration for a team to be successful, besides a good coach, it also requires a strong team and a tacit understanding between the coach and the players.
From the perspective of historical materialism, Schlapner can promote the development of Chinese soccer in the "point", but cannot form a "surface" or even "three-dimensional" progress.
Schlapner hasn't been in China very long, and it will take months for him to gel with the team, let alone get on track for training.
Schlapner went to great lengths to gel with his players, but the conflicts grew.
The biggest conflict is the problem of discipline. At that time, due to lax discipline, many players in the team had the bad habit of drinking and smoking, which is definitely a big taboo nowadays.
Schlapner coaching in Germany for many years, the team quit smoking and drinking is a common thing. Alcoholism and smoking will cause athletes to lose physical fitness, addicted to rest, no interest in training, which is Schlapner can not accept, so he started with the players of the "war on alcohol and tobacco".
In order to keep an eye on the players at all times, Schlapner frequently checked the dormitories during the players' breaks, each time looking around the edges as well, not letting go of any beer caps or cigarette butts.
Because of this incident, Schlapner was often at odds with his players, and even sometimes when he confiscated their alcohol, the players objected in the dormitory and refused to participate in training.
What makes Schlapner even more angry is that sometimes, when it is time to play, some players are still loitering in the disco every day, unmotivated to train.
In the eyes of the players, Schlapner was after all an "outsider", whom they could not recognize and even rejected.
There is also the paradox that Schlapner likes to change players. He values more the significance of individual strength to the team, and he does not spare his appreciation for some outstanding performers, moving players from other teams to the national team at every turn to prepare for matches with the rest of the team.
But by doing so, Schlapner has undoubtedly broken the hearts of the players as well. Appropriate replacement of players can indeed remove the wheat from the chaff, but Schlapner's frequent substitutions, and even change of generals at the last minute, led to the team's lack of bonding and tacit understanding, and the team was scattered on the pitch, even the division of labor was not clear.
Such a scattered team, even with outstanding individual strengths, will find it difficult to cope with teams that are well disciplined and tacitly coordinated.
These clashes of philosophy, which Schlapner also perceived, could not be overcome, and the conflict with the players intensified until the two sides had completely disagreed with each other, and there was no point in playing this game.
In December 1994, Schlapner's contract with the FA expired and he officially stepped down to return home. Qi Wusheng took over and continued to lead the
national soccer team
Train and participate in competitions.
After leaving China, Schlapner still maintains his love for the country. In fact, when he first came to China to coach, the retainer was not high, and the treatment he enjoyed was all because of the support of the fans.
After stepping down, a reporter interviewed Schlapner, who made a few simple gestures when talking about his salary. He put his hand on the table at his waist, a height that was given to him by the German club; then he put his hand on the ground, which was the salary paid by Volkswagen.
The reason why he didn't ask for too much money is that Schlapner has always had a "China complex".
As early as 1984, after the end of the visit to China, Schlapner has led Chinese coaches and players to study in Germany. Some of them have become Schlapner's "disciples", which is why when the Football Association looked abroad, want to hire "foreign coach", Schlapner the first time into the eyes.
Since coming to China, Schlapner always carries two flags with him, one is the Chinese flag and the other is the FA flag, and when he takes pictures, he always tries to find a way to get both flags into the shot and take a picture with himself.
Back in Bensheim, Schlapner's residence changed from a five-star mansion to a small, modest garden. He called it the "China House", where Schlapner would receive his guests from China whenever they visited.
He displayed his China collection, his furniture and even his car in the "China House" and proudly introduced all the wonders and beauties of China to everyone.
Sometimes Schlapner will run into some challenges against the center
national soccer team
The people who were criticizing the ball, he would interrupt them with great displeasure and would not allow them to comment so much on the Chinese
national soccer team
Balls.
Upon his return, Schlapner initially sold beer under his own name as a trademark, but business was not good.
Later, Schlapner came up with the idea of hiring some members of his family as brokers, specializing in "intermediaries" to absorb Chinese players to Germany for training.
This program has been a huge success, and under Schlapner's influence, many Chinese players have gone to study abroad, which has helped them improve.
Schlapner also pays close attention to the training and development of young soccer players, as this is the driving force and source from which Chinese soccer can flourish.
Now 80 years old, Schlapner is hale and hearty. He has been paying attention to the development of Chinese soccer all these years, commenting on all kinds of situations and often getting to the crux of the matter.
It's true that Schlapner hasn't done much as a coach, and his role in Chinese soccer isn't exactly irreplaceable.
The point is that there was no need to over-mythologize Schlapner then, and there is no need to over-denigrate him now.
No matter what time it is, we have to stand in an objective and rational point of view to evaluate the merits and faults of Schlapner. He is not a liar, nor is he a savior, he is just one of the many attempts of Chinese soccer to hire "foreign coaches", and he is an ordinary coach in the history of Chinese soccer.
1. Schlapner from Spring Festival guest to international crook: Chinese soccer's foreign manager's ups and downs
2. China-Germany soccer love affair: From Schlapner, young players will start a new chapter -- CNN.com
