For Chinese football, the current situation can be said to be very bad. The national team's poor record, the delay in the start of the league, and the club's participation in the AFC Champions League have created one humiliating record after another, which is likely to make the number of places in the Chinese Super League to participate in the AFC Champions League less. The reason why Chinese football has become what it is today, when asked why, the first reaction of many fans is to point the finger at the Chinese Football Association. In the impression of many fans, every decision issued by the Chinese Football Association seems to carry the label of "wrong". So, is this really the case? Certainly not, looking at a new decision of the Chinese Football Association exposed by the media this time, it cannot be described as a mistake, and even if this decision is finally implemented, it may have a very positive impact on the future of Chinese football.
In recent years, the achievements of Chinese football have indeed been worse than a year. Not to mention rushing out of Asia, even the first-class level in Asia is far from the first-class level in Asia, and it has changed from the quasi-first-class in Asia 20 years ago to the third and fourth-class today. The Chinese national team could not even play in the "World Cup" round of 12 of Chinese football, and such a shame really made the fans very indignant. However, the "humiliating" record created by Chinese football in Asian football is not over. The annual AFC Champions League, shandong taishan and guangzhou teams representing Chinese football, pushed the shame to a climax.
Losing is actually nothing for Shandong Taishan and Guangzhou teams participating in the AFC Champions League, after all, the strength is here. Even if it is a first-team team, it may not be able to take advantage, let alone the two teams that play in the "youth team". What the fans did not expect at the time was that the scores of 0:8 and 0:7 stimulated the psychological endurance of Chinese fans again and again. So, what do the japanese and South Korean media think of such an opponent?
In fact, the media in Japan and South Korea do not recognize the so-called "youth teams" sent by the Chinese Super League teams, believing that their average age is not small, and at their age, playing as they are now, the future is really not optimistic. So, are these young Chinese players really as they say, really too low a level to be optimistic? Judging from the results of the AFC Champions League, it can indeed be considered so. But in fact, we should also see the other side of the story.
Just stepped on the AFC Champions League, these two giants who are known for their youth training in China are indeed kicked by Japanese and South Korean teams. But after a few games, the performance of these young players really can't be denied, there has been a clear improvement. Why? Because of the substantial guarantee of the regular game, this is the feeling of play that they can't find after practicing on the training ground many times. With the guarantee of the main game, their own strength has also been improved step by step in actual combat. If they can have such a game guarantee for a long time, not to mention how much performance will be in the future, but at least many times stronger than they are at present. So, how will young players who seriously lack real-world matches face the embarrassment of not being able to play in the Chinese Super League after leaving the AFC Champions League?
This time, the Chinese Football Association also recognized this reality. Previously, their eyes were almost all on the country, such as following the leagues of Spain, Portugal and other countries, and came up with the draft of the club U23 team (Chinese Super League / Chinese First Division second team) playing in the second division. However, this plan ultimately failed to be implemented. Later, the U21 national team was placed in the Chinese Second Division, but in the end there was not much effect, as for the reason, it was because there was strong opposition from the Chinese Second Division clubs.
In fact, this kind of youth league in China should be carried out, but due to the low level of young players in China, it is conceivable that the level of this kind of youth tournament cannot be guaranteed much. So, how do you find a higher level of workout platform for these young players? This time, the Chinese Football Association has set its sights on Japan and South Korea. Fans know that the reason why Japanese and Korean football will develop so rapidly, in addition to staying in Europe, there is another most important reason, that is, they have a perfect youth training system to ensure the quality of young players in China. It is precisely in this way that the Chinese Football Association wants to use the level of young players in Japan and South Korea to hone the young players in China.
According to the Football Daily, one of the most important tasks in the current work plan of the Youth Department of the Chinese Football Association is to organize the China-Japan-South Korea Youth Championship (or similar name). According to the PLAN of the Football Association, after the end of their respective youth leagues, China, Japan and South Korea will appoint their respective winning teams (such as champions and runners-up, or final four teams) to participate in the China-Japan-Korea Junior Championship, which will be held in turn, and the quota can be 2+1+1, 4+2+2, or 3+2+2+1 (the last one is an invitation). In this way, the level of the game can be guaranteed, after all, this is a strong confrontation between young players between China, Japan and South Korea.
In addition, in addition to the youth championships between China, Japan and South Korea, the Chinese Football Association also hopes that the AFC can gradually form a youth AFC Champions League (or U19 AFC Champions League), so as to give young players from various Asian countries a higher stage and improve their level. If this can come true, it may really become the spring of Chinese football, after all, young people are the hope for the future.