In the global soccer landscape, the current state of Chinese soccer is undoubtedly slightly embarrassing, a fact that few people are aware of. As for the crux of the matter, opinions vary. Recently, Ji Yuyang, a veteran media personality, threw out an insightful article from the competitive level. He pointed out that there is a clear divide between our national team and the national teams of European countries on the field.
Ji Yuyang further elaborated by comparing the data, in 2023, China's player Wu Lei made 30 league appearances, one cup game in club matches, participation in three cup matches last season, one AFC Champions League match, eight friendly matches for the national team, and two World Preliminary League matches, totaling about 45 appearances.
Another focal player, Liu Yang, who plays for Shandong Taishan, has appeared in over 40 games this season, while Zhu Chenjie has played in 38 games on and off. Overall, the number of annual appearances for Chinese national team players is roughly 40.
In contrast, the number of appearances made by European players is not comparable. Tottenham Hotspur's Rodney, for example, is expected to play nearly 70 games in 2023, a figure that is already standard for international players from wealthy families. In contrast, the number of appearances for our players is significantly lower, and the intensity of the European leagues is very different from the games experienced by Chinese players.
At present, China's players in technology, confrontation intensity and the frequency of the game with the international top level gap, want to catch up is undoubtedly a long way to go. The only way out may be to send players abroad for further study, but this is not an easy task. Players are not willing to go abroad, and due to the level gap, other European league teams accept low, seems to have hit a dead end.
Our players only need to play more than 40 times a year, while European, American, Japanese and Korean players play close to 70 games a year, which means that there is a gap of about 30 games between us and them. These 30 games determine the player's competitive state. Although the national team trains frequently, the actual battle is the best way to test the players. Some fans have pointed out that the overall level of the Chinese Super League is low, and players have been in a relatively comfortable environment for a long time, which makes it difficult to adapt to high-intensity matches in the international arena.
Today, the performance of the national team has been disappointing. If we want to promote the development of Chinese soccer, we need to start from the youth training, dig more soccer talents and let them go out of the country as early as possible. This may be a bright way.
