Opinion | Searching for the Chinese Lionel Messi? Xi Jinping might want to follow the futsal model
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar credit the indoor five-a-side game with developing their skills – China should embrace it if they want to reach their ambitious football aims
China might not be at the World Cup but their fans are there in great numbers, as are mainland companies, something that has brought Xi Jinping’s football dream into focus.
Though the men’s national team is yet to make it to another World Cup since their debut tournament in Japan and South Korea in 2002, China has set an ambitious target of competing at the highest level by 2050.
The foundation for these goals has been laid. Mads Davidsen, a coach at Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG, tweeted this week that there over 20,000 football academies up and running in China and that 10 million children are training every week.
That’s a huge undertaking and one that will surely pay dividends. But is China doing everything it can?
“Most of the major clubs in Brazil have a futsal school and then, at a certain age, the players choose which path they want to embark on,” Falcao told earlier this year.