The problems in China's soccer world are many and varied, and if we look into the root causes, almost all aspects are unsatisfactory. Recently, Beijing Youth Daily revealed an in-depth report in which Prof. Yu Bing, an expert invited by the Athletic Association, expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the performance of the national team. He pointed out that the national team's shortcomings in physical exercise are particularly prominent, a problem that cannot be ignored.
As the 2023 World Championships in Athletics approaches, Yu Bing shares his insights on physical fitness as an Assistant Specialist in Science and Technology for the Athletics Association. Prior to this, he held key positions in the US Track and Field Association, assisting in its preparations for a number of Olympic Games and World Championships, accumulating a wealth of experience. This shows that Prof. Yu Bing is an authority in his field.
What Prof. YU Bing said was convincing. He emphasized that it is not enough to judge athletes by their physical size alone. As a matter of fact, the general lack of physical exercise among players has led to a marked decline in physical fitness. In the past, the players of the national team were in excellent physical condition, but now they are reduced to the laughing stock in the mouths of the fans.
It is worth mentioning that Professor Yu Bing not only criticized the men's football, but also expressed his concern about the current situation of women's football. He mentioned that the fiasco of the women's soccer team in the World Cup exposed the lack of physical training system in Chinese sports confrontation programs. He emphasized that physical confrontation is the norm in sports competition, not malicious fouls.
Over the past 20 years, Chinese soccer, the national team and women's soccer have continued to decline. Since 2002, when the men's soccer team made its first World Cup appearance, it has not touched the World Cup stage. Since 1998, when the women's soccer team was runner-up in the World Cup, the Chinese team has never been able to reach that height. As women's soccer teams around the globe have grown stronger, China has been relegated to second- or third-rate status in the world.
At present, both men's and women's soccer teams are under tremendous pressure. The national team's world ranking has been declining, once falling to 80th in the world and out of the top 10 in Asia. the trend of women's soccer also seems to be slipping towards the national team. In this year's World Cup, the women's soccer team stopped at the group stage, the worst result in history. In fact, the performance of this year's World Cup was disappointing. The future path of Chinese soccer, including which country to learn from and which areas to strengthen, is not yet clear and needs to be thought about and explored in depth. Perhaps the first task to go farther is to improve the level of physical fitness.
