Eriksson bemoans lack of playing area for youngsters
Print Edition
Chinese football could struggle to attract youngsters away from table tennis and badminton and needs a home-grown star playing in Europe before it really takes off, ex-England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson has said.
President Xi Jinping has high ambitions for football’s ultimate sleeping giant, including a rumored bid to hold the World Cup — a tournament which 82nd-ranked China has only reached once before.
Eriksson, now coach of Shanghai SIPG, backed China’s new plans to raise standards, including training players from an early age and introducing the sport to more schools.
But the well-travelled Swede warned it will take “some years” before any evidence of improvement is apparent.
“The reason for that is that the grass-roots football is almost non-existent,” Eriksson said. “That is a pity because young people — boys, girls — they play badminton, they play ping pong, they play basketball. Football... almost nothing.”
Eriksson said Chinese youngsters did not have the access to spaces to play football that children in Europe enjoy, putting them at a disadvantage.
“If you go to the parks it is always written in Chinese ‘Don’t walk on the grass,”’ he said, before drawing a comparison to London’s green spaces. “Hyde Park, Regent’s Park. Saturdays, Sundays. What are people doing there? Playing football.
“That is grass-roots football and I think that most of the schools in places like Shanghai they don’t have any space to play football. Badminton, ping pong and basketball you need very little space.”
Even if Chinese youngsters were given opportunities to succeed, they need an aspirational “big star” to make it in England, Spain or Germany, Eriksson said. “China needs a Chinese player playing in Premier League, or La Liga or Bundesliga or somewhere, and who can do it with success.
“That is the only way (for football) to be big in this country.”
“The standard of Chinese football is getting better and better,” Eriksson said, praising the CSL which is now the most watched in Asia.
“More and more money goes into football clubs. Rich people buying it. Government-owned companies buying football clubs and the money is more and more to buy foreign players and also, big competition to take the best Chinese players.”
But when asked if his annual salary was near the reported US$6 million, the Swede laughed, “Not at all. I have a good salary, but not at all.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
