In the newly announced training list of the U17 national junior soccer team, there are 29 players, of which Jiangsu nationality accounts for six seats, Shandong and Henan have four and three each.
These players come from China's traditionally strong soccer cities, such as Shanghai, Beijing, Dalian, Qingdao and Guangzhou, with only one from each city; while no one from Shenyang, Tianjin, Wuhan and Chongqing was selected.
Notably, three of the 2007-born players are participating across the board, one of mixed Central African descent and the other the long-established Ouyang Jiaxin.
In the face of such a large number of former international players and soccer insiders, some people have suggested that the selection mechanism needs urgent improvement. They think that since there are not enough assignments to choose from, why do they not go to the Hong Kong Football Association as scouts? Nationwide auditions, especially grassroots selections in traditional soccer cities, are important links that cannot be ignored. Why not broaden the scope and tap more potentials? Why can't these young talents, who could have been tapped from football schools and clubs, be included in the selection horizon?
In fact, the scope of the sea selection should be further relaxed to cover all parts of the country. Just as the requirements of enterprises recruiting graduates of 985, 211 universities, this selection method may miss some talent, but it is undoubtedly the most cost-effective and not easy to make mistakes.
For the U17 age group, the problem of skill stereotyping may not be met by private grassroots players. Although certain aspects such as speed, power and skills may be outstanding, the basic skills are stereotyped and it is difficult to keep up with the professional level. In contrast, the U11 age group has some potential.
In some economically better areas, soccer developed cities, parents at the high school level generally tend to let their children go to college or study abroad. Given the current state of the soccer industry, parents in first-tier cities are less willing to let their children venture into the soccer profession, so children who do not have a better way out choose to try this small probability event. Even if they succeed in entering the professional league, the development prospect is not optimistic.
Some people may not realize that the so-called "strong city" refers to the strength of youth training, not the strength of the city's people. Don't European giants such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Ajax source young players from all over the world for training? Why do some clubs with strong youth training only develop local talents? This kind of thinking is too narrow-minded.
Regarding the selection of the national junior team, I do not know whether money deals are involved, but the interests of the local sports associations and football associations do need to be considered in the selection process. It is not a matter of personal interest, but of personal interest being interfered with.
I would like to appeal to everyone: for Chinese soccer to rise, we must abandon keyboard warriors and pseudo-fans, and look up to the leaders of the Football Association to strengthen youth training. I hope that our country can once again produce soccer wizards like Xu Genbao, local coaches like Li Tie, and players like Wu Xi, Yu Dabao, and Zhang Xunzhe who sacrifice their lives, unite as a team, and take stock of the situation. It is their heroic performance in the face of foreign teams that made our men's soccer team achieve excellent results in the World Qualification Tournament. Although this World Qualification Tournament was frustrated, the fighting spirit of our men's soccer team will always exist.
Rumors stop with the wise, Chinese soccer has been changing for decades and we have made significant progress. I hope that Chinese soccer will continue to maintain the momentum and create another brilliant future.
