China can do many things well but they can’t seem to put together a half-decent national soccer team, even under the tutelage of world class foreign coaches. I believe part of the reason is systemic. When I first went to China about 20 years ago, I could see some nice looking buildings, but mostly nice superficially. The general knowledge of people involved in these significant projects was quite low. They copied what looked good but didn’t understand the details. That would improve over time as people got better education.

I was involved in hi-tech digitization of television broadcast facilities and networks in China. I realized they had a serious impediment because their most powerful persons were usually political officials and were likely not well educated in the disciplines they were asked to make important decisions for. People directly involved in various facets of a project also had disparate interests not necessarily conducive to working together for a high quality finished product. Finding and grooming soccer talents are particularly difficult because it involves human beings, long term investments, and patience. It requires knowledgeable leadership with insight in what qualities it takes to make a good soccer player with impact. The lack of such persons in leadership roles is probably why China’s national teams have been pathetic.

I have played soccer when I was at high school. My school was in fact the only school in Hong Kong that had its own full size soccer field. We had the good fortune of being able to play soccer everyday. My understanding of what makes a good soccer player is probably the same as what makes a good sports-person. Physical attributes aside, a good player must be mentally adept. A smart player is always dangerous; a smart player who is well built and has good skills is usually lethal. Such a smart player also has very quick eyes, and instinctively knows the spatial position of everyone, the goal posts, and where the ball is going to be, sometimes even without looking. That player must of course love the game and be dedicated enough to become a world class player. You can train dribbling skills, you can train passing skills, you can train kicking skills, you can train to do headers, and you can train for speed, but it’s hard to train soccer smarts, and probably not many people, particularly those who hold leadership positions, have the insight to spot kids with natural soccer smarts.

China has the money and infrastructure now. They also have an unlimited supply of soccer players. My experience in China has been that, once they put their mind to achieving something, they will always get there, even if it takes a longer route and costs more. After watching a few recent international games with young players, I feel that the overall quality of the players may indeed have improved. Although I haven’t watched enough games to know the players individually or to know whether they are persistently good. Let’s see if China will finally install knowledgeable and insightful people in leadership roles and maybe surprise us with a strong national team in the next decade. If Uruguay with a population of 3.5 million can come up with a contending team, why can’t China with 400 times the population?