Gaffer’s Banter

Bashing China Football Dreams

Basketball vs. Football in China is getting farther and farther apart.   Below is a very nice video depicting a boy’s basketball dream. He is a bit skinny to be like Tracy McGrady, but he is surely on the right path.  Watch his diet and train hard, he can really play for NBA one day.  Remember, Yao Ming wasn’t as beefed up until his junior/senior year in the NBA.  That is the story…a boy’s dream to play basketball…to play for CBA…and then NBA.

5DmkII – Beijing Hoop Dreams from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

We don’t give the same treatment for Chinese Football.  The Chinese National Football Team was condemned on a daily basis since the failure to qualify in both the World Cup Qualifiers and the Olympics first round.  Blogs even went on to compare the humiliating defeats with the heroics of the Chinese National Basketball team.

Not worthy to represent China

Recent articles went on to suggest that any Chinese footballers would be putting their career at risks if they play for their country.  This negativity has been going for some time.  The national football team’s failure in 2008 (less than 30% winning record in all competitions) and the bad publicity of the Chinese Premier League is just the product of years of mismanagement.  Can Football China start off with building small dreams like better grass roots and young talent development programs?  Nation wide marketing programs for young fans, starting at the age of 6? If the Football Association don’t know where to begin, why not begin when they are small and dreaming?