At this year's Asian Games, the double anxiety of Chinese fans undoubtedly stems from the focus on men's and women's soccer and men's basketball. The men's soccer team lost 0-2 to South Korea on the Asian Games stage, and although it wasn't a complete upset, the fact that they stopped in the last eight still left fans with a heavy heart. The women's soccer team also lost in the semifinals against Japan's U-23 women's soccer team, whose average age is less than 22. The men's basketball team, on the other hand, lost to the Philippines II team in the semifinals by a slim margin of 76-77. These results added to the sadness of Chinese fans who follow all three teams at the same time.
The men's soccer team has long endured the chastisement of fans, and expectations are low. Fans often lack passion when watching national soccer matches. Once the team loses, they may seek out some light-hearted jokes to take the edge off. However, the recent poor performances of the women's soccer team and the men's basketball team have left fans unable to contain their inner anger. This anger stems from the fans' true feelings of disappointment with their teams.
While the women's soccer team's development was limited by market factors, the men's basketball team's attention and market value did not match its performance. Even more puzzling is the men's basketball team's behavior of canceling and resuming the press conference after the game, which seems particularly abrupt in the context of the Asian Games. Compared with the men's soccer team, which has never canceled a press conference, this move by the men's basketball team seems to be too capricious.
The high expectations that fans have for their national soccer teams is actually a conclusion drawn after making comparisons with men's basketball. Soccer is far more competitive than basketball, with at least 100 countries and regions around the world having soccer specialization, and a fairly high degree of soccer specialization in Asia. China's soccer is already considered good enough to be in the top third of the more than 200 member associations. In contrast, there are only 30 or so professional basketball regions, and only 4 or 5 regions in Asia have professionalization, and men's basketball is even further behind than men's soccer.
The men's soccer team, like high school students surrounded by college students, has been at a disadvantage against college students. China has invested relentlessly in basketball, expecting to develop its men's basketball team to the top level, but its recent performance has been like being bullied by elementary school students. It is no exaggeration to say that the performance of the men's basketball team does not match the attention and investment it receives. Although the performance of the men's soccer team also leaves something to be desired, considering the immense pressure of competition in soccer, it has not been easy for the men's soccer team to advance to the Elite Eight in this Asian Games. In contrast, the men's basketball team even failed to enter the finals in Asia, where the pressure of competition is relatively low, which is really worth thinking about.
