At a recent meeting held by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) to prepare for the national brand, a controversial proposal was made: during the winter training period, the national brand team will receive a week-long military training. The decision quickly sparked widespread public concern, with many fans and media members expressing their dissatisfaction.
As we all know, military training is arranged for freshmen in our high schools and colleges when they enroll in school, and it usually lasts for half a month. Some are done on campus, while others need to be dragged to military camps to eat and live with soldiers. So, does the national soccer team also need such training? Opinions are divided on this. Some professionals and fans believe that the national soccer team has conducted too much military training, which not only fails to bring results, but also wears out the players' sense of the ball and spirit, and even makes the players shy away from the national team. In their view, this is a unique Chinese soccer "amateur behavior", but also does not respect the laws of professional soccer development embodiment.
However, this is supported by the majority of passers-by, who believe that the national soccer team has poor spirit and lacks the belief and fighting spirit to win. Military training helps to improve this situation by enhancing team building and strengthening the bond between players and team honor. In fact, military training is not limited to soccer. The Chinese table tennis team, the "strongest team on earth", for example, undergoes military training almost every year, but they still achieve brilliant results on the world stage. In addition, sports such as track and field, shooting, archery, gymnastics and rowing, as well as the Chinese men's basketball and women's soccer teams, have also undergone military training.
While military training in other sports is highly praised, some have questioned the effectiveness of military training for the Chinese men's soccer team.At the end of 2018, the national soccer training team sparked controversy when it mobilized its players for military training during the league tournament. And why did this military training, which lasted only a week, still cause such a backlash? In addition to military training, the meeting also raised the topic of "physical reserve". In the past, the Chinese soccer community has hated the "yoyo fitness test" and considered it too extreme. After the abolition of the physical fitness test, the physical condition of the players has received more professional guidance, and the physical fitness level has been improved. However, in the face of high-intensity matches, are the players physically fit enough?
In this year's Chinese Super League, the performance of two major teams proved the importance of physical fitness. One is Dalian coached by Xie Hui and the other is Chengdu coached by Xu Zhengyuan. The former was relegated six rounds ahead of schedule, while the latter finished in the top four of the league thanks to their excellent physical performance. In the face of this phenomenon, there have been calls to respect the laws of soccer and develop a reasonable training program. Whether the level of youth training has been improved and whether the soccer population has increased, these are all questions worthy of our deep thoughts. Military training may have its pros and cons, but it is not desirable to over exaggerate its negative effects. Instead of dwelling on whether military training violates the rules, we should focus on how to get more people to participate in soccer and make soccer popular. After all, Chinese youth do not play soccer, Chinese parents do not support their children to play soccer, not just because of military training.
