On April 15, 81-year-old Xu Genbao personally took charge and led the Shanghai men's soccer All-China Games team to South Korea for an intense training stretch. On the eve of the trip, Xu accepted media interviews, revealing the team's ambition to strive for gold at the Greater Bay Area National Games.
Talking about the trip to South Korea, Xu Genbao said: "We picked a strong opponent with slightly older players, and this matchup is aimed at improving our team's squad and tactical level. There is a relative scarcity of domestic tournaments, so we chose to participate in more matches overseas in order to improve the players' competitive state. Through the tournament, I think it is more of a mental exercise for the players. I strongly believe that it is important to participate in such competitions, especially at this time when the players are in dire need of enhanced coaching, so they need to be hands-on. Sometimes they perform funny moves in training and if they slack off, I 'educate' them."
"If Chinese soccer can catch up to the level of Japan and South Korea, fans will be satisfied, because then we will be able to see Chinese teams appearing on the World Cup stage frequently." Xu Genbao looks to the future.
In the face of reality, Xu Genbao frankly, the Shanghai men's football team in the national tournament generally ranked five or six, to impact the gold medal target compared to the past more challenging. But the goal has been set, the team will go all out to strive for good results.
