Once upon a time, the Chinese men's soccer team became the "unreliable" representative of the fans, and all walks of life seemed to make fun of the national team. But today, the situation has changed dramatically. It's not just the Chinese men's soccer team that has taken off, but also other major ball sports that have shown significant regression. The Chinese women's soccer team and the Chinese men's basketball team, which used to lead the way on the world stage, have now become a source of disappointment and despair, and the future of big ball sports seems bleak.
The national soccer team has been underperforming in recent years, and the women's soccer team, once a laughingstock, is now beginning to dishearten fans. At the Asian Games, facing Japan's second-string lineup, China went down 3-4, not a fortuitous loss, but a continuation of the 2023 losing streak. At the World Cup, China's women's soccer team failed to advance in the group stage after being defeated by Denmark and bloodied 1-6 by England. Similar misfortune befell the men's basketball team. In the men's basketball semifinals of the Asian Games, China lost 76-77 to the Philippines II. A month ago in the Men's Basketball World Cup, China's men's basketball team also had a dismal record, winning only one of the five matches, and unfortunately missed the Paris Olympics.
China's women's soccer team and China's men's basketball team were once the absolute dominant teams in Asia, while China's men's soccer team has been mediocre in Asia. Through this comparison, we can clearly see the declining trend of women's soccer and men's basketball teams. Even in the volleyball program, which the Chinese are proud of, the performance of the Chinese women's volleyball team is starting to disappoint. After three consecutive losses, the team missed the Olympics. Once upon a time, the Chinese women's volleyball team dominated the world, but now a ticket to the Olympics is out of reach.
In stark contrast, the Chinese women's basketball and men's volleyball teams, which have been low-profile, have been eye-catching. The men's volleyball team won the runner-up spot at the Asian Games, and the women's basketball team collected the runner-up and champion spots at the World Cup and Asian Cup, respectively, and will next take on Japan for the Asian gold medal.
We have collected many gold medals at the Asian Games and the Olympics, but the eyes of the audience are clearly more focused on the big ball sports. Unfortunately, in these sports, China's results are becoming less and less impressive.
Among these three major sports, soccer and basketball are the two areas of greatest concern to fans. Today, with the exception of the Chinese women's basketball team, the competitiveness of the other three national brands in Asia has declined significantly. The Chinese men's basketball team has dropped to 11th place in the Asian rankings, losing frequently to the Philippines, and the Chinese women's soccer team has looked out of their depth against Japan. More regrettably, the Chinese men's basketball team has also begun to follow in the footsteps of the national soccer team, with a ticket to the Olympics out of reach and more and more losses in Asia.
In certain individual sports, with greater investment, we have been able to achieve remarkable results. However, in the three major sports, the results are not obvious despite huge investments. In order to achieve a breakthrough, China may need to learn from the experience of Japan, which has made world-renowned achievements in soccer and basketball over the past decades.
