Today, Zhang Lu in the soccer night interview in-depth analysis of the crux of the development of Chinese soccer, he believes that it is not the problem of the youth training system, but from the neglect of the popularization of soccer for primary and secondary school students.
"The crux of China's soccer dilemma lies not in the youth training system, but in the popularization of soccer among primary and secondary school students. Without roots, how to cultivate a big tree? In fact, youth training is only one of the links, it is from the many children to screen out the best, to be professional training. Popularization, on the other hand, is to enable more children to participate in soccer, which are two very different concepts. We tend to confuse the two, focusing too much on youth training while ignoring the importance of popularization, and this mindset leads to problems."
Zhang Lu further pointed out that during the 15 years from 2000 to 2014, the average number of primary and secondary school students participating in soccer in China was only 5,000 per year. In sharp contrast, the world's soccer powerhouses such as Germany and Brazil have more than a million primary and secondary school students participating in soccer each year, France and the United Kingdom have also reached millions of people, Japan has one million students playing soccer year-round, and even a small country like the Netherlands has half a million people. Obviously, the number of soccer talents generated from a base of 5,000 people as compared to 500,000 people is simply unrivalled.
