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Rehabilitation on the field

By Qiu Quanlin (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-16 08:22

China's CP soccer coach says playing more important than winning

GUANGZHOU - Yang Weixiang was not disappointed after China's 7-a-side CP (cerebral palsy) soccer team suffered a heavy 8-0 loss to Iran on Tuesday.

"My players just felt very happy to play on the field. That's the most important thing," the Chinese head coach said.

The CP players, who find it hard to balance body movements, have made great adjustments and improvements to display their skills, Yang said.

"They have already shown rapid improvement, given that China has a very short history in CP soccer," he said.

It was not until 2000 that China began developing CP soccer, according to Yang.

China lost all of its CP matches at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.

Yang became the head coach of the national squad in October, after he led the Guangdong team, which comprises most of the national squad, to the China CP championship title in July.

"I found there were no differences between CP players and normal ones after I met this special group two years ago," Yang said.

He had been working at a local sport school before he took charge of the Guangdong CP team.

"I was greatly touched by their hard work. You know that CP players need more time during training and they never complain about it," Yang said.

The Chinese squad had only two months of training before the Asian Para Games.

"So my players did a very good job despite the short preparation. For me, a competition for disabled persons should not focus too much on results," Yang said.

The coach now hopes more chances can be created for CP people.

"We need more competitions like the national championships and Asian Para Games to develop CP talent. Moreover, playing soccer will help them recover greatly by improving their balance," Yang told China Daily.

He said many players on the Guangdong team had shown marked physical improvement since joining the squad.

Lin Congchang, who scored two goals in the team's 4-2 win over Korea, has advanced from CP6 to CP7, according to Yang.

He also wants every player to take the field.

For example, Wang Yixing, who only had about 10 minutes of playing time in China's first match against Korea on Monday, played the whole game against Iran on Tuesday.

"After the spectators sang a birthday song for him, I realized that he should have a full game. I thought the cheers of the fans would inspire him to do a good job and help him develop more confidence," Yang said.

"I don't care too much about the scores. They just need to play - and through that their lives can improve."

China Daily