When it comes to the Chinese men's football team, although it will not make people scornful, it will inevitably make people frown. In fact, the Chinese men's football team has also experienced a period of considerable prosperity.
Of course, the prosperity of Chinese football is already a matter of the Republic of China period, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is "Asia's first".
After more than ten years of national capitalist development, the economic development of the Republican period has made remarkable achievements. Although there are many warlords, the major warlords attach great importance to local economic development, so in general, the economic situation in the Republic of China period has improved compared with the late Qing Dynasty. However, the eyes of these warlords are not on sports, almost no warlords have invested in the football industry, and the national government has no related budget.
At the time, the Chinese soccer team raised funds in the same way as the jianghu artists, almost through begging. In order to make up for the participation in the 1936 Olympic Games, the All-China Sports Association rushed out, and various staff members came to the central and even local departments of the Republic of China government to find financial support. After a nationwide "begging", a sum of money was finally put together - 170,000 yuan. According to the budget, this money is not enough, at least 50,000 funds are needed.
In desperation, the All-China Sports Association could only decide that the team would raise its own money and come to Southeast Asian countries for exhibition matches two months before the Olympic Games were held, and use this ticket revenue to fill the deficit in the Olympic funds. In this way, the major stars who should have enjoyed the worship of sports fans across the country have transformed into artists who have turned their heads and heads for the sake of funds, and they have traveled to Southeast Asian countries to play football with football teams and play exhibition matches. It took a total of two months, and the Chinese team finally saved up 50,000 yuan.
220,000 yuan of Olympic funds is far from generous for the national team. In order to save money, the team's players and staff had to save money for the next two months of the journey. When taking a boat, the ticket you buy is the cheapest third class, and when staying in a foreign country, you also choose the cheapest hostel. Sometimes, all the members of the Chinese team live in a chase shop, and some players have to make bunks on the ground. As for eating, most of the time these players have to buy their own food and cook, and have never patronized foreign restaurants.
The head coach of the Republic of China team is not an experienced veteran, and can only be counted as a football enthusiast at best. The reason why Yan Chengkun is the head coach is entirely because this person wants to exchange the opportunity to travel at public expense in this way. Relying on the position of chairman of the South China Sports Association and manager of the Hong Kong-China Bus Company, Yan Chengkun successfully became the head coach of the Chinese team.
The head coach was a two-knife who knew nothing about football training, and in addition, the Government of the Republic of China at that time did not provide sufficient training funds for the football team, so the training of the Chinese team became a big problem. At that time, the only way for the Chinese team to train was to play games with southeast Asian teams, even if it was just friendly matches and exhibition matches, which was also an opportunity for players to train.
Although the government of the Republic of China did not attach much importance to the development of football teams, the sports authorities at that time paid enough attention to football teams. The leader of the sports authority issued such a request to the football team: "All chinese football players, we must exhaust everything, in order to form a strong team with the best of the country." ”
In order to achieve this ambition, the then All-China Sports Association specially established a subsidiary body for the selection of players, that is, the Football Selection Committee. Committees come across the country to screen football players who have talent. After three months of intense selection, in April 1936, the Chinese team recruited twenty-two players, including Li Huitang, Zhang Banglun and Tan Jiangbai.
If there is a "Footballer" in China during the Republic of China, then Footballer will definitely be born among these three players.
In 1922, Lee Wai Tong, who had just celebrated his seventeenth birthday, passed the selection of the South China team and became a member of the most famous team in Hong Kong. Li Huitang's career is quite exciting, and he was selected as the main striker just after entering the team. Li Huitang is about 1.82 meters tall, his running speed is extremely fast, and he is good at ball control, and his most proficient skill is to lie on the ground and shoot. Just one year after joining the team, Lee Hye-do led the team to win the 6th Far East Games in Osaka, Japan.
Subsequently, the eighteen-year-old Li Huitang performed prominently in four international competitions and gained great fame. In 1926, Li Huitang formed his own team and led the team to participate in the "Scotto Cup" held in Shanghai, defeating the British Hunters by a score of 4-1. Li Huitang's victory allowed Chinese football to take off the hat of "the sick man of East Asia" and complete the transformation from a weak team to a strong team.
The Chinese team's goalkeeper Zhang Banglun may have been the best goalkeeper in Asia at the same time, when Zhang Banglun was named the "First Iron Gate in the Far East". Born in Shanghai, Zhang Banglun represented China at the Olympic Games in 1948 and 1952, and served as the standard-bearer of the Chinese delegation at the Helsinki Olympic Games after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1952.
Tan Jiangbai was an authentic Guangdong native, and his head-kicking skills were among the best in China at that time, and Tan Jiangbai himself earned the nickname "Tan Copperhead". In 1936, Tan Jiangbai represented the Chinese team in Berlin and participated in the Olympic Games. After returning to China, Tan Jiangbai played for the Oriental A team. Tam Kong Pak's son, Tam Wing Lin, was one of Hong Kong's most famous singers of the last century.
It can be said that since the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, Chinese has always suppressed a vicious atmosphere in his chest. The Chinese team's repeated victories over the Japanese team during the Republic of China and the record of unbeaten success made the repressed Chinese a bad breath.
On the eve of the 1936 Olympic Games, the Chinese football team was like today's table tennis team, which was pinned high hopes on by the Chinese people. In order to finance the Olympic trip, the Chinese team has played twenty-seven games in Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and India, winning a total of twenty-four games and playing three draws, raising sufficient funds for the Olympic trip.
At the Olympic Games, soccer matches are played out last. The first fierce opponent of the Chinese team after participating in the Olympic Games is the powerful British team. After the British team was drawn, everyone's heart was hanging in mid-air. You know, the United Kingdom is the birthplace of modern football, so the strength of the English football team is among the best in the world. The strength of the British team has made every Chinese player feel unprecedented pressure.
In fact, for the British team, the Chinese team is also a strong enemy that cannot be underestimated. China's main striker Li Huitang has been famous in Asia for a long time, and the Chinese team has been invincible in previous friendly matches. In the ten major football tournaments held in Asia, the Chinese team lost only one. Such achievements are simply incredible in the eyes of the British, so the European and American powers do not dare to slack off on the Chinese team.
On August 6, Berlin's Thomson Stadium was in an unprecedented state of activity, with thousands of spectators flocking to the stadium and even the passages blocked. Facing the Chinese team, the British felt great pressure, in order to let the team defeat the Chinese team, the Queen of England also sent a telegram to the international footballers, asking them to defend the glory of the United Kingdom.
From China to Europe, the pressure of away combat has made the players of the Chinese team restless. In order to quench the tension of the players, Cheng Tianfang, the Chinese ambassador to Germany, recruited 500 overseas Chinese from Germany and came to the stadium to cheer up the national football team. When the whistle blew, the two Players of the British team stood at the left and right of Li Huitang according to the arranged tactics to add offensive pressure to him.
Due to the main striker being restrained, the offensive ability of the Chinese team has been strongly hindered. Fortunately, the Chinese team's strong defensive lineup, coupled with the superb strength of the goalkeepers participating in the ball game, the British team has never been able to break through the door of the Chinese team. After nearly an hour of contention, the first half ended with a 0-0 tie.
In the second half, the British changed tactics and launched an all-out attack on the Chinese team. Fortunately, the Chinese team defended well, and the British forward was never able to break through the goal with the ball. By the thirteenth minute of the second half, the Chinese team suddenly changed tactics. For Chinese, the victory in the Olympic arena is precious, which is a brave attempt by the national football team to go to the world, so the players of the Chinese team decided to make a big gamble.
The Chinese team changed its strategy and began a full-scale counter-offensive. Every player went all out and tried to break through the Englishman's defensive scoring. Unfortunately, because of the improper tactical arrangement, the Chinese team's back line was empty, creating an opportunity for the British center to break through. The English centre-forward kicked the goal and opened the scoring to break through the goalkeeper's defence and score a point.
Perhaps because of the loss of this point, every Chinese player was under great pressure, and the performance of the Chinese players in the following games was repeatedly wrong, so that when the game came to forty-one minutes, the Chinese team's goal was broken again. Due to the aggressive tactics of Chinese players, the physical exertion of each player is extremely large.
In the end, the Chinese team was unable to organize an effective attack, and the match was lost by a score of 0-2.
However, even though the Chinese team has lost, the performance of the Chinese players has still left a deep impression on the fans and even the european sports fans, and the European media at that time gave the Chinese team unanimous praise, believing that the strength of the Chinese team is no less than that of any European team, and has the potential to become a top team. The reason why the Chinese team lost to the British team is because the Chinese players are physically insufficient.
In any case, the Chinese football team during the Republic of China period set a precedent for the prosperity of Chinese football, and at its most brilliant time, it won 24 games and drew 3 draws in 27 games, becoming the hegemon of Asia. But unfortunately, the Chinese men's football team failed to inherit the aspirations of its predecessors and carry forward the national football team. I hope that in the near future, the national football team can regain confidence, add glory to the national football team like the old predecessors of the Republic of China, and play the World Cup again with a new attitude.
Resources:
【Chinese Football in the Republic of China Period" and "History of Chinese Football"