When it comes to soccer in China, many people are depressed and think that the future of soccer in China is bleak. This is not the case for the following reasons: firstly, if we look at it from a horizontal perspective, soccer in our country covers both men's and women's soccer. At present, the women's football team is ranked among the top in the world and was once the runner-up in the Women's World Cup, so how can it be easily judged that our country's soccer is not working? We can only say that our men's football needs to be upgraded, but we cannot generalize that our soccer is not working; secondly, when we look at it from a vertical perspective, our soccer covers both history and the present situation. Looking back at history, even in the Tang and Song dynasties, our country's cuju skills were unrivaled; during the Republican era, our country's men's soccer team dominated in Asia and could even compete with the strongest teams in Europe.
Since 1915, China's soccer team has won nine consecutive Asian Far East Games, and in 1923, China's soccer team won the Asian Cup held in Osaka, Japan, with a score of 1:5 against Japan, highlighting the glory of China's soccer. The picture shows the men's soccer team in the Republican era.
During the period of warlordism and Japanese aggression in our country, the Government had no time for sports. Although our soccer teams were very successful, they had to raise the necessary funds themselves, in the same way as a juggler.
In order to participate in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany, our men's soccer team needed to raise $170,000 for travel expenses and other participation costs. Near the date of the games, there was still a shortfall of 50,000 yuan. They had to leave two months in advance and play exhibition matches along the way to make up for the participation fee with the ticket income. In order to save money on the boat, all the players chose the cheapest berths and even cooked their own food.
Li Huitang, a 17-year-old Chinese player, was regarded as an Asian soccer superstar. He was fast, agile and skillful with the ball, and in 1926, in the "Scotto Cup" international soccer tournament, Li Huitang led China's men's soccer team to a 4:1 victory over the British team, which had been the champion for nine consecutive years, shocking the world soccer world.
