By China Watcher
China struggles again in a soccer match with Iraq on home ground in a 2014's Asia World Cup qualifier yesterday, losing 0-1 to a team who did not even have a competitive soccer league given that the country has gone through some civil strife a decade ago.
It is a common sight to see the despair on the football fans faces who came to support its team after the first round knockout of its soccer team from the Olympic qualifiers.
I still strongly believe that the future of Chinese soccer is in the youth programs and if there is to be a change in fortunes then we must see some strong wins against the teams from South Korea, Japan and the Middle Eastern countries at the Junior level - U16, U-19 and Youth, But then there is no current performance even to justify that the future of Chinese soccer is indeed encouraging.
There is a need to revamp the Chinese structure in the development of soccer towards one in which the players are motivated to take risks, develop individual skills and most important to learn the basics of kicking and passing the ball to its team mates. China need to learn from Korea and Japan and it is important to do it fast, otherwise they will continue to lose or just draw with the Middle Eastern countries like Syria, Jordan, Qatar, Iraq and Iran.
Just watch how the Japanese, Korean and the Australian players who always have the upper hand when they deal with the Middle Eastern style of play which I think is not superior than the speedy work rate of the East Asian teams.
