He Sheng, a popular sports blogger with more than a million fans on Weibo, had flown to Saitama to watch the match with his daughter. He told his followers that the truth was that the Chinese football team had played terribly.
“There was nothing to sum up about this match,” he said.
TO EVEN CONSIDER THE WORLD CUP IS IMPOSSIBLE NOW
President Xi Jinping, reportedly a big football fan, once expressed his hopes to turn China into a “global football superpower”.
But the sport has long grappled with corruption, which fans have long blamed for the country’s poor performances.
In 2023, Chinese politician Chen Xuyuan who served as the president of the Chinese Football Association, was given a life sentence for bribery as part of a state investigation that began in 2022 and also snared several senior figures.
China’s dream for football is fast fading. Former China football captain Fan Zhiyi shared his thoughts about the match on Weibo, saying that “to even consider the World Cup is impossible now”.
“It’s better to gain experience from failure and work hard again,” Fan said.
He added that it has been hard for fans to accept last night’s defeat. “When there’s a gap in ability and you lose, it’s acceptable. But the way the team lost is difficult for the fans to accept.”
An opinion piece published by Shanghai-based The Paper on Friday morning said the match in Saitma set “several unbearable records for the men’s football team, such as the largest ever defeat against Japan”.
It also pointed to problems with corruption and said Chinese football fans needed to be more active in seeking change.
