5-8 Years Needed for China's Soccer to Strike a Leap Forward

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 11, 2001

5-8 Years Needed for China's Soccer to Strike a Leap Forward

China's football team may need 5-8 years to have a tremendous change and a leap forward, China's world cup success does not mean that China's football has made qualitative changes, said Yan Shiduo, executive vice-chairman of Chinese Football Association .

Warm-up Preparation for 10-Strong Match in Kunming

"We just struck an initial triumph, it will take another 5-8 years for China to realize a real skip forward according to current development situation", Yan said.

Yan said that the major forces of China's men football team are those players cultivated in 1980s and 1990s, while the current young players may need 5-8 years to become maturer. In addition, the overall level will witness a big change in five years to come, and only by doing a good job in basic skills, can we make remarkable progress.

China Reaches World Cup Finals after 44-year Odyssey

After a 44-year tumultuous Odyssey, China reached the World Cup finals for the first time on October 8,2001in Shenyang when they cleared the last obstacle with a 1-0 win over Oman in an Asian qualifier.

Playmaker Yu Genwei hit in the sole historic goal for China in the first half. With the win, China, who failed in all their past six attempts to qualify for the finals, built an unassailable lead with 16 points in Group B. Their closest opponents UAE or Uzbekistan can only get a maximum 13 points provided that they both win the remained matches.

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By PD Online Staff Li Yan

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