China national football team

Infobox National football team
Name = China PR
Badge = China_FA.gif
Badge_size = 150px
FIFA Trigramme = CHN
FIFA Rank = 96
FIFA max = 37
FIFA max date = December 1998
FIFA min = 103
FIFA min date = August 2006
Elo Rank = 68
Elo max = 26
Elo max date = October 2001
Elo min =
Elo min date =
Association = Chinese Football Association
Confederation = AFC (Asia)
Coach = "Vacant"
Asst Manager = "Vacant"
Captain = Zheng Zhi
Most caps = Li Ming (141)
Top scorer = Hao Haidong (41)
Home Stadium = Workers Stadium
First game = fb|Philippines|1908 0 - 1 China flagicon|Republic of China|1912 (Manila,Philippines; January 31, 1913)
fb|Finland 4 - 0 China Flagicon|China (Helsinki, Finland; August 4, 1952)
Largest win = Flagicon|China China 19 - 0 fb-rt|Guam (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; January 26, 2000)
Largest loss = fb|United States 5 - 0 China Flagicon|China (Palo Alto, USA; April 4, 1992)
World cup apps = 1
World cup first = 2002
World cup best = Round 1, 2002
Regional name = AFC Asian Cup
Regional cup apps = 9
Regional cup first = 1976
Regional cup best = Runners-up, 1984 and 2004
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leftarm1=FF0000|body1=FF0000|rightarm1=FF0000|shorts1=FF0000|socks1=FF0000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF

The China PR national football team (zh-st|s=中国国家足球队|t=中國國家足球隊) is the national football team of China and is governed by the Chinese Football Association (CFA).

The "China national team" was founded in 1924 in the Republic of China under the auspices of the China Football Association and joined FIFA in 1931. Following the Chinese Civil War, the Chinese Football Association was formed in the newly founded People's Republic of China. This body remained part of FIFA until 1958, when it withdrew, rejoining in 1979. They have been perennial contenders for the Asian Cup, most recently finishing second in the AFC 2004. But China failed to score a goal in their maiden FIFA World Cup appearance in the Football World Cup 2002. Qualifying for the tournament has been considered the greatest accomplishment in China's football history.

After the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom in 1997, and Macau from Portugal in 1999, these two special administrative regions have continued to have their own teams, which play as "Hong Kong, China" and "Macau, China", respectively.

As football is widely followed in China, national team success is considered to be a source of national pride. Around 300 million people tuned in to broadcasts of China's World Cup 2002 matches with a staggering 170 million new television sets being bought by citizens in order to watch their nation's first World Cup appearance. There were over 250 million viewers for the Asian Cup 2004 finals, the largest single-event sports audience in the country's history. [FootballAsia.com, [http://2004.afcasiancup.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=36656&cid=1129&sqid=833&amth=8&ayr=2004 "Asian Cup final smashes viewing records"] , 12 August 2004.] The team is colloquially referred to as "Team China" (中国队), the "National Team" (国家队) or "Guozu" (国足, lit. "national foot").

History

1949-1978

The national team under PRC name, played their first match in a friendly verse Finland on 4 August, 1952, which was one of the first nations to have diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

For nearly 30 years, the team primarily played only friendly matches with nations that recognized the PRC, such as Albania, Cambodia, Egypt, Guinea, Hungary, North Korea, North Vietnam, and Sudan.

China also played once in World Cup qualifying rounds, in 1958.

After re-joining in 1978

The national team began to make their way to national and international prominence in the beginning of the late-1980s through the introduction of televisions in Chinese households. Previously, the most popular international sports in China were the national women's football and volleyball teams as well as men's and women's table tennis. By 1980, China could start competing for a berth in the 1982 World Cup Finals.

Over the next 16 years, however, China missed the World Cup qualification time after time. In 1981, China lost a playoff game against the New Zealand team in a heartbreaking loss for the large home audience that followed the qualification process. During the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, China was on the verge of qualifying, but lost crucial matches at home, especially the matches against Qatar and Iran. Simply because of the demographics of the People's Republic of China, the team arguably has the most fans of any sporting team in the world, as with basketball. As a result, expectations soared in 2001 as China, under the direction of head coach Bora Milutinović, advanced to the World Cup Finals in 2002. This was the first time in its history that China reached the finals.

However, the team failed to score a single goal, losing all three group matches and was eliminated from the competition.

Recent history

In recent years, many have pointed to two main weaknesses of the team. Despite a very organized and well-drilled defense, team China lacks good strikers and creative playmakers who can also keep possession of the ball well. The team's main tactics against stronger teams tend to be both defensive and counterattacking, with long balls to a lone striker, who is quickly dispossessed of the ball due to lack of support.

In 2004, Dutch coach Arie Haan summed up his impression of Chinese football by saying, "Chinese players are very skilled, but the problem seemed to be related to the culture and psychology of the players," and that the psychological aspect tended to strongly influence the players. Former captain Li Weifeng illustrated this when he said that the Chinese team usually expects wins against weaker opposition but quickly gets irritated when things do not go to plan. This has often been attributed to the pressure due to massive public expectations of the team during the World Cup qualifiers, for example. Many critics also point to the complacency of the team at critical moments, especially when they are holding a lead or playing weaker teams. In the World Cup 2006 qualifiers, the team managed to only score a single goal against Hong Kong in Hong Kong, a team which China was expected to washout with goals. European coaches who have worked or been in China often cite a lack of professionalism and discipline in Chinese football as the reasons for the Chinese national team's overall weakness. An example of this is the rampant corruption of the first division of the professional Chinese football league, especially the 'black whistles' scandals involving bribed referees fixing matches. This may be seen as an extension of modern Chinese society developing in a complex world of traditional culture involving personal relationships and capitalism.

Recently, an increasing number of talented, young Chinese players have moved to Europe to gain experience in a professional setting. Many are or were key players in the national team, such as Du Wei (Celtic F.C.), Zheng Zhi (Charlton Athletic F.C.), Li Tie (mainly Everton F.C.), Sun Jihai (Manchester City F.C), Shao Jiayi (1860 Munich and Energie Cottbus), Sun Xiang (PSV Eindhoven), Zhang Enhua (Grimsby Town F.C), Ma Mingyu (A.C. Perugia), Fan Zhiyi (Crystal Palace F.C. and Dundee F.C.), Li Jinyu (AS Nancy), Yang Chen (best performances for Eintracht Frankfurt), and Xie Hui (best performances for Alemannia Aachen). Rising star striker Dong Fangzhuo currently plays for Manchester United, and after several successful seasons with Belgian club Royal Antwerp F.C., his Premiership debut came in a match against Chelsea F.C. at Stamford Bridge. Another potential star is Yu Dabao, who has been regularly scoring for the Benfica B team and is touted to break into the senior SL Benfica team next season. More players with European experience may yield better results for the national team. Key players Li Tie and Li Jinyu were part of the 'Jianlibao' team in the mid-1990s that trained young, talented players in Brazil.

The national team has produced some displays of controlled and creative football in friendlies, especially during the 0-0 draw against Brazil in November 2002 and the 3-1 loss to France in May 2006. After the 0-0 draw with Brazil, Cafu complimented the Chinese performance and said they were definitely capable of qualifying for the World Cup 2006. The team, however, failed to advance through the preliminary qualification stage, losing to Kuwait on goals scored, even though China scored seven goals in a blow-out against Hong Kong in the last qualifying match. While qualifying for the 2007 Asian Cup, the team became the subject of immense criticism in the media and a national embarrassment when it scored only one goal (a Shao Jiayi penalty kick well into final injury time) against Singapore at home in Tianjin, and tied the Southeast Asian city-state in the away game. In preparation for the 2007 Asian Cup, the team spend the weeks leading up to the tournament on a tour of the United States. While the 4-1 loss to a streaking United States was not unexpected, a 1-0 loss to a Real Salt Lake team that had been winless in MLS raised many eyebrows.

In the Asian Cup 2007 tournament, the team played three inconsistent games, winning against Malaysia, drawing Iran after leading 2-0 at half time, and losing to Uzbekistan with an embarrassing 3-0 scoreline. Under high expectations, China's performance drew immense criticism on online communities, which condemned the coach Zhu Guanghu, players, along with the Chinese Football Association in general. Zhu was later replaced by Vladimir Petrovic for this poor performance. Some commented that China's reliance on foreign coaches for the past decade has been an indicator of its poor domestic coach development system. [China Daily. [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-11/20/content_393311.htm Jobless Haan reflects China's football crisis] . 2004-11-20.] In June 2008, China had another poor performance at the World Cup Qualifiers, losing against Qatar and Iraq, and therefore missed the 2010 World Cup.

Rivalries

Traditionally, China's greatest rival has been Japan. This was exemplified in August 2004 that saw rioting by Chinese fans near the north gate of Beijing's Workers Stadium towards the end of the match between the two sides at the Asian Cup 2004 final, which Japan won 3-1 (accompanied by a handball). [ESPNSoccernet. [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=306466&cc=5739 'Hand of Koji' brings Japan third title] Aug. 8, 2004] The rioting was said to be provoked by controversial officiating and anti-Japanese sentiment resulting from historical tensions arising from several military conflicts between the two nations from the late-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century (see First and Second Sino-Japanese Wars), as well as from lingering controversies, such as the issue of Japan's use of comfort women during World War II. China's most recent major tournament meeting with Japan was at the East Asian Cup 2005 final in which the two teams drew 2-2. China went on to win the tournament, its first ever international football title.

One well-known rivalry is with neighbour South Korea. Although not as inflammable as the rivalry with Japan, it is interesting to note that while China has played about 30 matches against South Korea since 1950 they have never won a head-to-head match. This is despite China finishing higher than South Korea in a number of tournaments.

Home stadium

The Workers Stadium (Chinese: 工人体育场) is a multi-purpose stadium in Beijing, China. It is mostly used for football matches. The stadium was built in 1959 and it was last renovated in 2004. It currently has a capacity of 70,161.

The stadium was the main venue for the 1990 Asian Games, where the opening and closing ceremonies were held. Some high attendance matches of Beijing Guoan Football Club are also held at the stadium.

Media coverage

Home and away matches are shown on CCTV-5, GDTV-Sports, STV-Sports, BTV-6 and the other local sports channels.

Kits

The China national football team's kit is currently sponsored by Adidas. China in certain climates use special heat body cooling vests. [ [http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=221678&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56 Gulf Times – Qatar’s top-selling English daily newspaper - First Page ] ] [ [http://coolingvest.i4u.com.au/cooling-aids/sporting-vests.htm Sporting Vests - New Cooling Vest Product - Body Cooling Vest Sport Cooling Vest - ARCTIC HEAT USA ] ]

"For flagicon|QAT2011, see 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification"

Olympic Games record

Far Eastern Championship Games record

Top China goalscorers

As of May 24, 2008, the players with the most goals scored for China are:

Previous squads

*2002 FIFA World Cup squad
*2007 AFC Asian Cup squad
*2004 AFC Asian Cup squad
*2000 AFC Asian Cup squad
*1996 AFC Asian Cup squad
*1992 AFC Asian Cup squad

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

List of head coaches

References and notes

ee also

*Football in China
*Sports in China

External links

* [http://fa.org.cn/ Chinese Football Association Official Website] zh
* [http://teamchina.sports.sohu.com/ Team China Official Website] zh
* [http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=chn/index.html Profile] on FIFA en
* [http://www.the-afc.com/eng/nassoc/country.jsp_CHN-249-1.html Profile] on AFC en
* [http://www.eaff.com/10fa/fa01/team.html#men Profile] on EAFF en