James Porteous

Opinion | Why China’s latest World Cup failure might actually be a high point for a team requiring massive rebuild

With an ageing team, a lack of young talent coming through and few creative players, the next qualifying campaign for the World Cup could be even tougher

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China players leave the field after beating Qatar, but the bad start to their World Cup campaign gave them too much to do. (Xinhua/Meng Tao)

James Porteous

Published: 4:30pm, 8 Sep 2017Updated: 10:22am, 11 Sep 2017

“The nation’s pursuit of a soccer renaissance is headed in the right direction,” declared China Daily after the nation’s 10th failed World Cup qualifying campaign from 11 attempts.

Perhaps we shouldn’t pay too much attention to an article which reported that China captain Zheng Zhi had scored a penalty to win last week’s match against Qatar: he had been sent off before Wu Lei scored the winner, which was not a penalty. Minor details.

But it is valid to wonder if finishing second-bottom in the group might actually be a high point rather a “renaissance”. (And forget that “renaissance” implies a previous golden age).

China were a little unlucky not to make it, after Italian World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi inspired a remarkable turnaround. The country’s media rued the fact that he had not been in charge from the start of the campaign, but celebrated China “regaining face” in the eyes of a world that has negligible interest in China’s football team.

China thank the fans who travelled to Doha, but tough times might be ahead for supporters of the national team. Photo: Xinhua

But the horizon is now cloudy: the average age of the first XI against Qatar was more than 30, with 26-year-old Zhang Xizhe the youngest. Wu, nearly 26, is by far China’s best player in the younger bracket and after him there ain’t much else.