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Jonathan White

On October 7, 2001, the Chinese men’s national football team made history. That was the night China took on bottom side Oman at Wulihe Stadium in Shenyang.
The hosts knew that a win would secure them a place at the 2002 Fifa World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
Oman were winless in their group, while China were unbeaten in five games, and it went to form despite the hosts missing their top scorer, Qi Hong, who was booked against UAE days beforehand.
A 36th-minute goal from midfielder Yu Genwei was enough for China to seal their place at their first World Cup Finals.

China coach Bora Milutinovic was not taking anything for granted, declaring the 1-0 win over the UAE in the previous game to be lucky.
“We were lucky to win,” he said after that game. “Now we have a very good chance of qualifying for the World Cup, but the fact is we haven’t yet qualified. We have to keep working hard until we achieve our goal.”


They did that days later in Shenyang, Liaoning province, in front of 50,000 fans. Milutinovic also became the first coach to take five different nations to the World Cup Finals – Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), USA (1994) and Nigeria (1998).
Chinese football missing targets on its 2020 Action Plan
The achievement also kicked off a massive party in Shenyang and celebrations spread across the country.
“China is planning an all-night Olympic-size party to celebrate an expected soccer victory over Oman on Sunday that would enable it to qualify for the World Cup for the first time,” the South China Morning Post reported in the days before the game.
Beijing Youth Daily said: “In the event of a victory, China Central and Liaoning television stations, which plan to broadcast the match live, were planning an hour-long extravaganza in the stadium as grand as that which followed Beijing’s successful bid for the 2008 Olympics.”

They also reported that Liaoning governor Bo Xilai visited the squad before the game to tell them of the celebrations, which Milutinovic told them to put out of their minds and focus on the task at hand.
Confidence was high for their first appearance at the World Cup, with the Post’s end-of-year review saying: “China were drawn to play Brazil, Turkey and Costa Rica in the first round, which means the team have a reasonable chance of qualifying for the tournament‘s second stage.”
Xi’s World Cup wish, tattoos and Tevez: the 2010s in Chinese football
It did not end quite that way – China were beaten in all three games and failed to score a goal.
“Our capability was at that level, it was no one’s fault,” China’s top scorer Hao Haidong said in 2014. “But it was no accident either that we made it to the World Cup Finals,” he said.


Defender Li Weifeng explained it in terms of a lack of exposure.
“It was related to our narrow vision back then. We didn’t have much access to the various soccer styles used around the world,” Li said.
“But we really need to thank Bora Milutinovic, the only one of us who had previous World Cup experience. He led [the team] in surpassing many barriers, but it was not enough.”
History of failure hurts China's veteran footballers
﻿Jin Zhiyang, a member of the 2002 coaching staff, saw the whole experience as a positive. “It was the first time we had a taste of it. So everything [we experienced] was an accomplishment, including the defeats. Even though we failed to earn a single point, or a goal, that first-hand experience will be remembered forever.”
As it stands, that was a high point for Chinese football and criticism has come in their subsequent failings. Hao did not hold back in his 2014 interview with RTHK as China prepared to watch on once more.
“I don’t see any lessons we’ve drawn from our experience at the 2002 World Cup,” he said.

“Today we change our coach, tomorrow officials, the day after that our playing style, and after that, the players … I don’t see any planning. It couldn’t possibly get more absurd.”
Li also wondered where it all went wrong. “Just look at the national team that made it to the 2002 World Cup, and the team today – they aren‘t nearly in the same league,” he said. “I often wonder, what has happened in the past 12 years?”
Arguably little has changed since, with China also watching on for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and not guaranteed of breaking their run in Qatar in 2022.
How China can learn from Australia’s ‘golden generation’
They are giving themselves the best chance though, with the new policy of naturalisation giving hope that they can reach the finals.
If that does not work then there is hope in Fifa expanding the tournament or China hosting the World Cup Finals in the 2030s.
Qualifying for and hosting a World Cup were among Xi Jinping’s “Three Wishes” for football back when he was president-in-waiting in 2011.

Xi has driven policy and investment in Chinese football that has little to show for it, with targets missed on the 2020 action plan.
It has been failure as usual for the national team but as Bo and Hao show, things change.


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Fifa

On this day: China qualified for its only Fifa World Cup

Chinese players and officials celebrate with national team coach Bora Milutinovic after China’s 1-0 victory over Oman in a crucial World Cup qualifier in Shenyang on October 7, 2001. Photo: Reuters

China's Fan Zhiyi is surrounded by media as he cries following China's historic 1-0 victory over Oman in their 2002 World Cup qualifier, 07 October 2001 in Shenyang, northeast China. China qualified for their first ever World Cup final next summer in Japan and Korea with the win. AFP PHOTO / Frederic J. BROWN

Ecstatic Chinese soccer fans celebrate following China's historic 1-0 victory over Oman in their 2002 World Cup qualifier in the northeast Chinese city of Shenyang, 07 October 2001. China qualified for their first ever World Cup finals next summer in Japan and Korea with the win. AFP PHOTO /Frederic J. BROWN

Chinese national soccer team poses for group photos before the crucial World Cup Soccer qualifier against Oman in Shenyang October 7, 2001. China won the match 1-0 to make history to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time since they first joined FIFA 70 years ago. Chinese players are: (L-R, front row) Ma Mingyu, Fan Zhiyi, Li Weifeng, Li Xiaopeng, Yang Chen (L-R, back) An Qi, Wu Chengying, Li Tie, Yu Genwei, Sun Jihai, Hao Haidong. (CHINA OUT) REUTERS/China Photo

(FILES) This 07 October 2001 photo shows Chinese players celebrating on the pitch at the Wulihe Stadium in Shenyang, northeast China, after a historic 1-0 victory over Oman to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. China's national players are leading a chorus of condemnation 15 February 2007 over the destruction of the stadium where the team qualified for the 2002 World Cup, still its first and only time, after it was flattened to make way for a shopping mall. Aware of the sensitivities, the government in Liaoning province imposed a blanket ban in the media of the stadium's destruction, but local emotions still ran high. AFP PHOTO / Frederic J. BROWN

Xi Jinping’s World Cup dream, tattoo bans and Carlos Tevez: Chinese football in the 2010s

China’s players react after losing to Iceland in the 2017 China Cup. Photo: Xinhua

China soccer fans celebrate their team's 1-0 win over South Korea in the 2018 World Cup qualifier in Changsha in central China's Hunan Province on Thursday, March 23, 2017. (Color China Photo via AP)

China's players celebrate their victory with their supporters during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup Round of 16 football match between Thailand and China at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al-Ain on January 20, 2019. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP)

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero took a selfie with President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister David Cameron at the Manchester City football academy.

epaselect epa06067958 Chinese President Xi Jinping (2-L) and his wife Peng Liyuan (1-L), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (3-L), Reinhard Grindel (4-L), President of the German Football Association (DFB) seen a soccer game of U12 children between Germany and China during their visit in Olympic Park in Berlin, Germany, 05 July 2017. Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Chinese President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, will be informing about the current status of cooperation in the field of football at the Olympic Park in Berlin. EPA/RONALD WITTEK / POOL

China's President Xi Jinping (R) speaks with FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China June 14, 2017. REUTERS/Fred Dufour/Pool

Fifa World Cup: Chinese football can learn from PFA report into Australia’s ‘golden generation’

The Australian Socceroos celebrate after defeating Uruguay in the Fifa World Cup qualifying play-off at Stadium Australia in Sydney in November 2005. Photo: AFP

epa00754438 Marco Materazzi (C) of Italy is shown the red card by referee Luis Medina Cantalejo (R) while Mark Viduka (L) and Mile Sterjovski (2nd L) watch during the 2nd round match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup between Italy and Australia in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Monday 26 June 2006. EPA/ULI DECK +++ Mobile Services OUT +++ Please refer to FIFA's terms and conditions

Australia's captain Mile Jedinak (C) holds up the AFC Asian Cup football trophy after beating South Korea at Stadium Australia in Sydney on January 31, 2015. AFP PHOTO / Peter PARKS -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE

Brazil's Ronaldo (C) vies for the ball with China's Du Wei (L) and Xu Yunlong (R), 08 June 2002 at the Jeju World Cup Stadium in Seogwipo, during first round Group C action between Brazil and China in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan. AFP PHOTO /ANTONIO SCORZA / AFP PHOTO / ANTONIO SCORZA [01JULY2018 REFLECTIONS POST MAGAZINE]

China hosting 1990 Asian Games lit way for Beijing 2008 Olympics

Residents hold Chinese and Olympics flags at a rehearsal for a celebration event in Zhangjiakou, which will join Beijing in hosting the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Photo: Reuters

TO GO WITH AFP STORY "OLY-CHN-2022-CHINA" FOCUS BY NEIL CONNOR (FILES) This file photo taken on December 31,2014 shows people skating before a New Year's Eve countdown event in front of China's National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube in Beijing. China came of age as an Olympic power when it hosted the spectacular Beijing 2008, a display of the unlimited resources and political will some say are essential to its bid for the 2022 Winter Games. AFP PHOTO / FILES / WANG ZHAO

Giant panda Basi holds a doll of the Guangzhou Asian Games mascot at Fuzhou Panda World in Fuzhou, Fujian province November 12, 2010. Basi, a 30-year-old female giant panda, was the archetype of the mascot Panpan during the Beijing Asian Games in 1990, local media reported. REUTERS/Stringer (CHINA - Tags: ANIMALS SPORT SOCIETY) CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA

Hong Kong fencing team members: (from left) Tang Kwong-hau, Lee Chun-man, Wu Xing, Wong Tsun and Lo Man-tong celebrate their Asian Games victory in 1990. SCMP / C. Y. Yu

World Cup 2022: China’s Ty Browning and Fernandinho called up by Li Tie

Fernandinho (left) will join Guangzhou Evergrande teammate Elkeson (second from right) at the Chinese men’s national team training camp. Photo: Xinhua

China's Brazilian-born forward Elkeson, Chinese name Ai Kesen, celebrates with a Chinese national flag at the end of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup second round Group A qualification football match between Maldives and Chian at Rasmee Dhandu National Stadium in Male on September 10, 2019. (Photo by Ahmed SHURAU / AFP)

This photo taken on April 14, 2019 shows Nico Yennaris (top), also known as Li Ke, of Beijing Guoan celebrating with teammate Renato Augusto after scoring during their Chinese Super League match against Henan Jianye in Beijing. - Nico Yennaris was born in working-class east London, played with Harry Kane at Arsenal as a boy and is an England youth international. (Photo by STR / AFP) / China OUT

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Reaching the finals in Japan and South Korea remains a high point for Chinese men’s football, despite government-backed spending
The 2002 players have not been kind about those that have followed them or Chinese Football Association policy since



Reaching the finals in Japan and South Korea remains a high point for Chinese men’s football, despite government-backed spending.


On this day: China qualified for its only Fifa World Cup

Reaching the finals in Japan and South Korea remains a high point for Chinese men’s football, despite government-backed spending The 2002 players have not been kind about those that have followed them or Chinese Football Association policy since

Reaching the finals in Japan and South Korea remains a high point for Chinese men’s football, despite government-backed spending

The 2002 players have not been kind about those that have followed them or Chinese Football Association policy since