On the evening of February 10, Chinese ice hockey ushered in a historic moment. Against the United States, Chinese men's ice skaters appeared in the Olympic Games for the first time. For more people, the sport of ice hockey is too far away, but many special names and faces in the Chinese team are more interesting. It is worth noting that in the same naturalization background, the situation of Chinese ice hockey and men's football is very different.
Naturalization only for eligibility?
The men's ice hockey team that participated in the Winter Olympics this time, 15 of the 25 players are "naturalized players", compared to Yingda's son YingRudi, Chen Zimeng, who once played in the NCAA Ice Hockey D1 League, and other "local players", whether from the field role or play time, "naturalized players" are the main strength of the Chinese team. Until now, there is still a saying that men's ice is naturalized to only qualify for the Olympic Games, after all, the team is only ranked 32nd in the world, and it is at the level of the world B group A relegation team all year round, and it is really difficult to enter the room.
It must be noted that as early as May 2017, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has confirmed the eligibility of Chinese men's and women's ice hockey teams in the Beijing Winter Olympics by voting: 47 votes in favor and 0 votes against. In 2018, the qualification of the Chinese team to participate in the "passing process" was nailed down. As for the recent discussion of the qualifications of the Chinese team by the International Ice Federation, and even the intention to replace the Norwegian team, it is only an internal dispute after the change of its organization.
Pictured: Tadif is elected as the new IHF chairman in 2021
Of course, the IIHF does have some concerns about the ability of the Chinese team, after all, once there are frequent 20 or 30-point big scores in official matches, neither the sport itself nor the promotion of ice hockey in China is a good thing. The management initially wanted to solve the problem in its own way and send good players to the high-level league to hone. It is in this context of "going out" that in June 2016, Kunlun Hongxing Club was established and landed in the world's second largest ice hockey league, KHL (Continental Ice Hockey League), mainly Russian teams.
However, the experience of the South Korean team eventually made the Chinese men's ice determined to embark on the road of naturalization. At the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, China Men's Ice lost 0-10 to South Korea, and the six blonde players in the opponent's squad played a decisive role, and they brought in several Canadian and American players in preparation for the 18-year Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Pictured: Naturalized players failed to avoid south Korea's bottom-line fate at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics
Finally, in 2017, the global "search" model was officially opened, and the General Administration of Sport stated that it would open its doors to Chinese players, and in June of that year, the national team held an overseas selection tournament, attracting about 200 players to participate, most of whom had Chinese backgrounds. Unlike the South Korean team's strategy, 11 of the 15 naturalized players who were finally selected for the Beijing Winter Olympics roster were of Chinese descent and almost all of them had NHL experience.
At present, only goalkeeper Smith (USA), as well as Kelios (USA), Sprawl (Canada) and Osipov (Russia) in the back line are not related by blood. Compared with the criticism of the Korean ice hockey team and the Chinese men's football team in terms of naturalization, the Chinese men's ice team has taken into account the problem of treating the symptoms and not the root cause to the greatest extent.
The story behind the name
The Chinese men's ice team that participates in the Winter Olympics is mainly composed of three parts of players, in addition to the players trained in China and the players who have been polished by the North American ice hockey system since childhood, the naturalized players are obviously "heavy", and the stories behind them will always be enjoyed. For example, captain Ye Jinguang is the fourth generation of Chinese immigrants in Canada, his college major is crime scene investigation, if he did not play hockey, Ye Jinguang may have broken through in the police circle. However, in this way, it is the loss of the hockey world.
Ye Jinguang won the NCAA championship as the head coach of Boston University, and in the five years of the NHL, he completed 56 points, and to this day remains the most chinese player in the league's history. Subsequently, he joined Kunlun Hongxing and scored more than 100 points in the KHL, making him the team's first hundred point king.
If you must find the most representative person in this team, then Wang Taylor deserves it, and his name fully reflects the characteristics of the combination of East and West. As the vice captain of Kunlun Hongxing, he is also the main player of the national team. Taylor's grandfather and grandmother immigrated to Canada in the 1960s, and his mother was a lesser-known skater, and the unique conditions made Taylor early in the world.
From the name, you can see the background of the naturalized players, such as Fu Jiang and Fu Shuai, the two brothers are unforgettable; O'Brien (O'Brien, which is used to translate as O'Brien in Mandarin) at a glance, he knows that there is a background in the Greater Bay Area, in fact, his mother is from Zhongshan, Guangdong; and the best Cantonese speaker in the team should be Yuan Junjie, his father is a Hong Konger, and his mother immigrated to Canada from Meizhou, Guangdong.
If anyone questions the identity of naturalized players, they may wish to take a look at the story of Zheng Enlai. The Chinese-German mixed-race child was born in a sports family, grandfather Duan Qiyan was the first National Games men's high jump champion, grandmother Zheng Fengrong was the first meritorious athlete in New China to break the world record in athletics, sister Zheng Ninali represented China in the Tokyo Olympic Games and won the tenth place in the women's heptathlon, and now it is Zheng En's turn.
It is worth noting that the deep meaning of Zheng Enlai's name was originally his Chinese name was Zheng Tai, but he happened to be born on the birthday of Premier Zhou, so Zheng Fengrong changed his grandson's name to Zheng Enlai. That year, Premier Zhou went to the Beijing Sports Academy to encourage Zheng Fengrong, and a month later, she broke the world record, and this inheritance is full of the development process of new Chinese sports.
Such naturalization, men's football can not learn
On the eve of the Chinese men's and women's ice hockey teams to participate in the Winter Olympics, coinciding with the humiliation of the national football team in the World Preliminary Tournament, the two projects have jointly embarked on the road of naturalization in the past few years, which has attracted a lot of attention. Nowadays, the naturalization of the national football team is a chicken feather, can we get some understanding from it?
Drawing lessons from South Korea, Chinese men and women's ice focuses on blood ties in the selection of naturalized objects, and in this context, "naturalized players" are eager to serve the country and identify with and accept Chinese culture. Compared with those who can't say Chinese, can't sing the national anthem, can't eat Chinese food, don't "play for the country" without money, and even try to refuse the "naturalization" of the national team, it is obviously a world of difference.
The most important point can not be ignored, according to public information, the players who play for Kunlun Hongxing have an annual salary of two or three hundred thousand US dollars, which is obviously a meticulous account compared to the treatment of Exxon, Alan and others who often exceed ten million euros. The naturalization of Chinese football is slightly blind, too much attention to the big names, obviously the performance of the eyesight is low, it is better to focus on those who want to play for the Chinese team as a player or practical player, more cost-effective.
In the next five to ten years, the naturalized players of ice hockey can still shine, not only to make up for the discontinuity period of local ice hockey players, but also to play a leading role in continuing to contribute to the promotion and publicity of Chinese ice hockey. In this regard alone, it is not the same as the "naturalization" of those who make money and leave.
Of course, due to the different characteristics of the two sports, it is not realistic for football to copy ice hockey. After all, the development of domestic ice hockey is in its infancy, it is easy to find higher-level Chinese or mixed-race players in North America, and in the football circle, there are very few "blood players" with good levels, Jiang Guangtai and Li Ke are almost the best representatives, even Hou Yongyong and Xiao Taotao are rare.
At the same time, FIFA's strict requirements for the qualifications of naturalized players also make the naturalization road of national football full of difficulties, and more often can only recruit "mercenaries". Such a hard injury cannot be solved in a short period of time, and it is difficult to strengthen the strength of youth training in the day and night, and the revitalization of the Chinese men's football team still looks far away. (Supine Braces/Zhao Chun)
Back-ups start tiger soccer