Since the professional soccer league set sail in 1994, professionalization has become an irreversible trend despite the fact that the process of professionalization has plunged China's men's football into the doldrums for a while. Looking back on these 28 years, although we have made mistakes in many aspects, the road to professionalization is still a general trend.
This year, the professionalization of soccer in China enters its 28th year. In these long years, which team can be considered the most successful? Throughout the years, many clubs have been relegated or closed down, and since 1994, only three teams have not been relegated from the top league: Beijing Guoan, Shanghai Shenhua, and Shandong Taishan (Shandong Luneng).
The Chinese Super League (CSL) title carries more weight than the AFC Cup title. If we only take the number of CSL titles as a criterion, Guangzhou Evergrande tops the list with 8 titles; Dalian Wanda (Dalian Shide) follows with 7 A-League Championships; Shandong Taishan has 4 titles including 1 A-League Championship and 3 CSL Championships; Shanghai Shenhua has won 2 A-League Championships (of which the 2003 A-League Championship was canceled due to a fake game), Shenzhen Jianlibao, Changchun Yatai, Beijing Guoan, Shanghai SIPG and Jiangsu Suning each won 1 Chinese Super League title.
After some comparisons, only Dalian Wanda (Dalian Shide), Shandong Luneng and Guangzhou Evergrande were finally shortlisted as the best candidates. Dalian Wanda (Dalian Shide) stood out with seven top league titles and the advantage of producing many international players. During the glorious years of Dalian, our men's soccer team maintained at least a quasi-first-class level in Asia and successfully advanced to the World Cup in Korea and Japan in 2002, and the team that contributed the most number of international players at that time was the Dalian team.
Shandong Luneng's strength is that it has never been relegated from the top league, and except for a few years, it has basically been in the title race. However, its disadvantage is also very obvious: only 4 top league titles, and in the AFC Champions League performance is quite miserable, especially when facing the South Korean team, the "fear of Korea" is particularly obvious, and even be part of the fans jokingly referred to as the "tragedy team".
Guangzhou Evergrande, on the other hand, has been one of the most successful clubs in China's soccer in the last decade, and one of the most successful clubs in Asia in the last decade, with 8 Chinese Super League titles and 2 Asian Champions League titles, which I am afraid will be difficult to be broken by other teams in a short time. However, Guangzhou Evergrande has been criticized for its reliance on domestic players, basically through purchases. Guangzhou Evergrande has started the golden dollar soccer, but no youth training players have emerged. On the other hand, some fans believe that because of the existence of Guangzhou Evergrande, the performance of our men's national soccer team is declining year by year, is this really true?
Since the 2002 World Cup, China's soccer has entered its lowest decade. In the 2006 World Cup, 2010 World Cup and 2014 World Cup, China's men's soccer team exited the group stage and could not even participate in the top ten (eight-team) tournament.The 2007 Asian Cup and 2011 Asian Cup were also eliminated in the group stage.
However, we have to note the time node: the 2014 World Preliminary League group stage was concluded in 2011, when Guangzhou Evergrande has just been promoted to the Chinese Super League, far from establishing its own dynasty; while the 2011 Asian Cup was held in Qatar in January, Guangzhou Evergrande has just been promoted to the Chinese Super League, and a Chinese Super League match has not yet been played. So the dismal results of these five competitions can't really be blamed on Evergrande.
After that, in the 2018 Top 40, our men's soccer team finally reappeared, and finally ranked fifth in the Top 12, and did not reach the World Cup.2015 Asian Cup and 2019 Asian Cup, our men's soccer team have achieved the top eight results. So it is nonexistent to say that Guangzhou Evergrande has scourged the national football team. As for the youth training problem, it is even more somewhat unjustifiable. Youth training is a long-term process, which is why many of our clubs are not willing to invest in youth training, and the effect cannot be seen in the short term. The real power of Evergrande's football school may not be seen until after 2025, so let's wait and see. Putting aside these two accusations, then the most successful club in China's soccer in these 28 years is undoubtedly Guangzhou Evergrande.
