Op-Ed Contributors

Road to Brazil 2014 begins at home

By Joergen Lindgren Hansen (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-25 07:50

The training should be rigorous and team-based with an emphasis on foundational techniques. By following this type of program, these regional teams will demonstrate strong fundamental skills and their players will be good role models for Chinese children at the local and national levels.

In addition to focusing all its focus on victories in professional sports, China needs to reflect on its attitude toward the role of sports in the lives of its citizens. While the country has invested an inordinate amount of energy and money to win gold medals, it has yet to invest in public sports facilities for the general public. Although many people have access to ping-pong tables and badminton courts, there are few public venues where people can play sports that require larger spaces, such as volleyball, basketball, and of course, football.

To develop a culture that truly understands and loves football, China must make the sport a part of people's lives from childhood.

As China's path of economic modernization has proven, progress in China will always retain Chinese characteristics and be measured by China's own scale. I believe China should create a football culture based on the European model, but I also believe the Chinese will adopt the model to suit its own needs and with great results.

If China can make more of its citizens sportsmen and sports spectators, I forecast that the Chinese football team will be a strong contender by the next World Cup in Brazil. The strength of the team, however, will not blossom from money and the narrow desire to win, but from a fan base that genuinely respects the game.

The author is a media consultant living in Paris and former sports journalist.

(China Daily 06/25/2010 page9)