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China national football team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Association | Chinese Football Association | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach |  Zhu Guanghu |
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| Captain | Zheng Zhi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most caps | Fan Zhiyi (109) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top scorer | Hao Haidong (37) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home stadium | Workers Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA code | CHN | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA ranking | 75 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 37 (December 1998) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 103 (August 2006) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elo ranking | 57 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First international Philippines 2 - 1 China  (Philippines; February 1, 1913)  Finland 4 - 0 China (Helsinki, Finland; August 4, 1952) |
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Biggest win China 19 - 0 Guam  (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; January 26, 2000) |
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Biggest defeat USA 5 - 0 China (Palo Alto, USA; April 4, 1992) |
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| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 1 (First in 2002) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Round 1, 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AFC Asian Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 8 (First in 1976) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Runners-up, 1984 and 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The China national football team is the national football team of China and is governed by the Chinese Football Association (CFA).
The China national team was founded in 1924 and joined FIFA in 1931-58, and then from 1979. They have been perennial contenders for the Asian Cup, most recently finishing second in 2004. The national team failed to score a goal in their maiden World Cup appearance in Football World Cup 2002.
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. Taiwan plays as "Chinese Taipei national football team". The team playing as "China" represents mainland China only.
As football is widely followed in China, triumph by the national team 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.[1]
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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 punts 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.[citation needed] 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. 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. Many critics also point to the complacency of the team at critical moments, especially when they are holding a lead or playing weaker teams. 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 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 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, but has yet to debut for the Manchester United senior team after several successful seasons with Belgian club Royal Antwerp F.C.. 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.
- 1930 to 1954 - Did not enter
- 1958 - Did not qualify
- 1962 to 1978 - Did not enter
- 1982 to 1998 - Did not qualify
- 2002 - Round 1
- 2006 - Did not qualify
- 1956 to 1972 - Did not enter
- 1976 - Third place
- 1980 - Round 1
- 1984 - Second place
- 1988 - Fourth place
- 1992 - Third place
- 1996 - Quarter-finals
- 2000 - Fourth place
- 2004 - Second place
- 2007 - Qualified
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 the Beijing Workers Stadium towards the end of the match between the two sides at the Asian Cup 2004 final, which Japan won 3-1. The rioting was said to be provoked by controversial officiating and also, anti-Japanese sentiment resulting from historical tensions arising from WWII. China's most recent major tournament meeting with Japan was the East Asian Cup 2005 final, which China won.
One interesting thing about Chinese football is in relation to their neighbor, Korea Republic national football team. China have played about thirty matches against them since 1950 but they have never won a head-to-head match against the team, despite finishing higher in a number of tournaments.
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| Most Recent Squad | ||
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| Opponent(s) |  Australia, 24 March 2007 Uzbekistan, 27 March 2007 |
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| Venue(s) | Guangzhou, China PR Macau, China PR |
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| Competition | International friendly (both) | |
| Notes | Sun Xiang withdrawn due to a knee injury | |
- Head coach: Zhu Guanghu (朱广沪); March 2005 -
- Assistant coaches: Li Shubin, Xu Tao, Li Ming
- Team manager: Zhu Heyuan
- Administrator: Guo Rui
- Team doctors: Yin Yehua, Wang Qirong, Yi Qing
Bobby Houghton; 1997 - 1999
Bora Milutinović; January 2000 - June 2002
Arie Haan; December 2002 - November 2004
The China national football team is currently sponsored by Adidas.
- Chinese Football Association (Chinese)
- FIFA profile: China PR / Results / Fixtures
- AFC profile: China PR
- Sinosoc, comprehensive English-language news site on Chinese football
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China squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup | |
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1 An Qi | 2 Zhang Enhua | 3 Yang Pu | 4 Wu Chengying | 5 Fan Zhiyi | 6 Shao Jiayi | 7 Sun Jihai | 8 Li Tie | 9 Ma Mingyu | 10 Hao Haidong | 11 Yu Genwei | 12 Su Maozhen | 13 Gao Yao | 14 Li Weifeng | 15 Zhao Junzhe | 16 Qu Bo | 17 Du Wei | 18 Li Xiaopeng | 19 Qi Hong | 20 Yang Chen | 21 Xu Yunlong | 22 Jiang Jin | 23 Ou Chuliang | Coach: Milutinović |
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