Chinese football year in review 2018: more madness, but plenty of positives in another crazy campaign
- Shanghai SIPG beat Guangzhou Evergrande to win first Chinese Super League title, with Wu Lei leading the league in scoring
- Military camps and bizarre bans overshadow progress on the pitch where Wang Shuang has shone in Paris
There is a single image that should define the year in Chinese football.
Some of the nation’s best players are in a nondescript room, heads uniformly shaven and dressed in military garb.
They sit on cheap plastic chairs watching the national team on television and the screen is balanced precariously on two more plastic chairs so everyone can see.
Rickety foundations, a lack of foresight, reacting with shoddy solutions. Whatever you want to read into it, there’s a message there.
There has been another since that took another 48 players, although at least the season is over.
Then women’s football followed with a military camp of their own.
Chinese football has really excelled itself this year, with the women not only copying the bad example of the men but also of basketball.