breezopoly

In April, Chinese President Xi Jinping went to a business that makes humanoid robots. There he floated an idea to fix the nation's woeful males's soccer team.

"Can we have robots join the group?" Xi was estimated as stating on the website of Zhiyuan Robotics.

It may be too late. China will run out World Cup qualifying if it stops working to beat Indonesia on Thursday. Even a success may just postpone the departure.

What's the problem? China has 1.4 billion individuals, the world's second largest economy and won 40 Olympic gold medals in 2015 in Paris to tie the United States. Why can't it find 11 elite men's soccer gamers?

The government touches every element of life in China. That top-down control has actually helped China become the largest producer of whatever from electronic devices to shoes to steel.

It has actually tried to run soccer, but that stiff governance hasn't worked.

"What soccer reflects is the social and political problems of China," Zhang Feng, a Chinese journalist and commentator, informs The Associated Press. "It ´ s not a free society. It doesn't have the team-level trust that enables gamers to pass the ball to each other without stressing."

Zhang argues that politics has stalled soccer's development. And there's added pressure because Xi's a huge fan and has actually assured to resuscitate the game in your home. Soccer is a world language with its "own grammar," says Zhang, and China does not speak it.

"In China, the more focus the leader locations on soccer, the more nervous the society gets, the more power the bureaucrats get, and the more corrupt they end up being," Zhang includes.

After China defeated Thailand 2-1 in 2023, Xi joked with Srettha Thavisin, the Thai prime minister at the time. "I feel luck was a huge part of it," Xi stated.

The agreement is clear. China has too couple of quality players at the grass roots, excessive political interference from the Communist Party, and there's excessive corruption in the regional game.

Wang Xiaolei, another prominent Chinese analyst, suggests that soccer clashes with China's top-down governance and the focus on rote knowing.

"What are we finest at? Dogma," Wang composed in a blog last year. "But football can not be dogmatic. What are we worst at? Inspiring ingenuity, and cultivating passion."

The current chapter in China's abysmal males's soccer history was a 7-0 loss in 2015 to geopolitical rival Japan.

"The reality that this defeat can occur and individuals aren ´ t that shocked - in spite of the historic displeasure - just highlights the problems dealing with football in China," states Cameron Wilson, a Scot who has operated in China for 20 years and composed extensively about the video game there.

China has actually received just one males's World Cup. That was 2002 when it went scoreless and lost all 3 matches. Soccer's governing body FIFA positions China at No. 94 in its rankings - behind war-torn Syria and ahead of No. 95 Benin.

For perspective: Iceland is the smallest nation to reach the World Cup. Its latest population estimate is nearly 400,000.

The website Soccerway tracks global football and does not show a single Chinese gamer in a leading European league. The nationwide team's finest gamer is forward Wu Lei, who played for 3 seasons in Spain's La Liga for Espanyol. The club's bulk owner in Chinese.

The 2026 World Cup will have a field of 48 groups, a big increase on the 32 in 2022, yet China still might not make it.

China will be gotten rid of from qualification if it loses to Indonesia. Even if it wins, China needs to also beat Bahrain on June 10 to have any hope of advancing to Asia's next qualifying stage.

Simons has spent almost 40 years in China and acquired fame doing tv commentary in Chinese on English Premier League matches. He also composed the 2008 book "Bamboo Goalposts."

China is gaining from reforms over the last years that placed soccer in schools. But Simons argues that soccer culture grows from volunteers, civil society and club companies, none of which can flourish in China considering that they are possible oppositions to the rule of the Communist Party.

"In China at the age of 12 or 13, when kids go to intermediate school, it ´ s known as the cliff," he says. "Parents may allow their kids to play sports when they ´ re more youthful, however as quickly as it pertains to middle school the academic pressure is on - things like sport go by the wayside."

To be reasonable, the Chinese females's team has done much better than the men. China finished runner-up in the 1999 Women's World Cup but has actually faded as European teams have surged with built-in proficiency from the guys's game. Spain won the 2023 Women's World Cup. China was knocked out early, damaged 6-1 by England in group play.

China has actually been successful targeting Olympic sports, a few of which are fairly odd and rely on repetitive training more than imagination. Olympic group sports like soccer deal just one medal. So, like many nations, China focuses on sports with several medals. In China's case it's diving, table tennis and weightlifting.

"For youths, there's a single worth - screening well," states Zhang, the analyst and reporter. "China would be OK if playing soccer were just about bouncing the ball 1,000 times."

Li Tie, the national group coach for about 2 years beginning in January 2020, was last year sentenced to twenty years in jail for bribery and match repairing. Other leading administrators have actually also been accused of corruption.

The graft likewise reached the domestic Super League. Clubs invested millions - possibly billions - on foreign talents backed by numerous state-owned businesses and, before the collapse of the housing boom, real-estate developers.

The poster kid was Guangzhou Evergrande. The eight-time Super League champions, when coached by Italian Marcello Lippi, was expelled from the league and disbanded earlier this year, not able to settle its debts.

Zhang states entrepreneurs invested in professional soccer groups as a "political homage" and cited Hui Ka-yan. The embattled realty designer funded the Guangzhou Evergrande Football Club and used soccer to win favor from political leaders.

Residential or commercial property giant Evergrande has actually collected debts reported at $300 billion, reflective of China ´ s battered residential or commercial property section and the basic health of the economy.

"China ´ s failure at the worldwide level and corruption throughout the game, these are all elements that lead moms and dads far from letting their kids get included," states Simons, who founded a youth soccer club called China Club Football FC.

"Parents look at what ´ s going on and question if they want their kids to be included. It ´ s sad and discouraging."

Wade reported from Tokyo and Tang from Washington.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer