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Home » Opinion » Chinese Views

Football turnaround shows fighting spirit

By Ni Tao | July 31, 2013, Wednesday | Print Edition

PEOPLE in China tend to be very imaginative when it comes to the country’s men’s national soccer team.

All kinds of jokes, imaginably and unimaginably scathing, have been cracked to taunt the dozens of “ne’er-do-wells” who keep failing the nation’s expectation for a sport known as the “beautiful game.”

One joke goes that China’s only chance of competing in the regional Confederation Cup is to represent the uninhabited continent of Antarctica. But the punch line is that China may even lose to a penguin team.

So after years of disillusionment, realistic fans have learned to expect little from the 23-member squad, who appear to be locked in a perennial sorry state of affairs, having slipped to around 109th in the latest FIFA rankings of national soccer teams. FIFA is the sports’ governing body.

No wonder the sole merit of the team’s existence, some argue, is to focus people’s daily frustrations upon itself, a rare outlet for their spleen, like a pressure valve. Its free fall seemed unending until June 15, when a 1-5 rout by the Thais in an international friendly ignited the national fury at the ineptitude of the footballers.

There is a limit to tolerance.

Detached soccer fans felt compelled to rant again simply because they cannot accept a humiliating, crushing defeat to an also-ran opponent like Thailand.

I don’t know if the country’s top leaders’ presumed displeasure at the team’s spineless performance is the factor behind the change, but it seems almost like a dream that the same team, more than a month after the rout, acted like real tough guys and started to win again in the recently concluded East Asian Soccer Tournament in Seoul, South Korea.

The team finished second after three matches, with a 3-3 draw with Japan, a goalless tie with the Koreans, and a 4-3 trouncing of the Aussies.

Sure, the team combination might have been behind the dramatic turnaround. It was cleansed after June 15. A few black sheep wimps were kicked out and young, robust replacements filled the void. It worked magnificently. Give young men a chance, and Chinese players will show they can do the fancy give-and-gos and sly dribbling just as well as others.

And thankfully, ex-coach Jose Antonio Camacho is gone. I don’t want to be mean-spirited, but good riddance! The dismissal of the former head coach of Real Madrid and national coach of Spain is a painful but timely decision.

Painful because the Chinese football association once foolishly signed with him without attaching necessary conditions to his expensive contract and is now in a bitter compensation dispute with the Spaniard for terminating his contract.

Timely because Camacho hasn’t really taught his players much, judging from the squad’s low morale, tactical disarray and the losing streak in a few internationals he oversaw. Were the Spaniard allowed to stay on in his job, Chinese soccer would only be in for a greater mess. So adios, amigo. We won’t be missing you.

Out of the shadows

After the recent comeback, Chinese fans are calling for Fu Bo, the interim coach, to be given a full coaching job. Fu was a junior coach plucked at a critical time from China’s youth team, but he is an alchemist. Without the bravado and fame that Camacho commanded, he led the team from its historic low and out of the shadow of self-denial, and utterly transformed it in little more than a month.

For this reason, count me in as one of the supporters of anointing him as the formal coach. There was talk recently of hiring Italian Marcello Lippi to succeed Camacho. True, Lippi is a fine manager, and knows Chinese football, but again, I believe it’s not yet the time to risk the takeover, and a Chinese can do just as well.

We cannot afford to let the hard-won progress go down the drain once again by recklessly throwing money at the next big name. Time and again it has proved to be a recipe for failure, caused by communications fiascos and a mismatch between the coach’s style and players’ prowess.

But what’s most important behind the swift turnaround of Chinese football, many believe, is the fighting spirit, the yearning for victory and glory for the motherland, that are restored to the team.

We saw the lads — in sharp contrast with their slacking off against the Thais — compensate for their lack of skills with tireless tackling, vying and dashing.

This tenacity enabled them to miraculously come from behind to hold the Japanese to a draw, and also withstand the attacking onslaught of the Koreans.

At this point I feel obliged to quote the old cliche: attitude is everything. It’s not that Chinese soccer can overnight shake off its lackluster image.

For Chinese players, the underdogs of Asian football, courage and grit are the real highlight of their latest victory of redemption. They redeemed themselves as true men.

Chinese Views


 

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