Chinese Soccer Seeks Help from PsychologistsThe beleaguered Chinese soccer has given itself a prescription that the bottom reason for its repeated failures to qualify for the World Cup finals rests with the head instead of the foot."I would say that the Chinese soccer is weaker in mentality rather than in skills and tactics," Yan Shiduo, the chief of the Chinese Football Association, said at a pep rally for the World Cup qualifiers last week. His to-the-point remarks underlined the mental weakness which has dogged the Chinese men's soccer team for long -- the desire to win is always overwhelmed by fear of losing matches. They used to perform inconsistently in key matches as their defenses weren't tore open until the dying minutes The highlight is that China has been struggling with a jinx that they failed to win any matches against the South Korean side for more than a decade. Though South Korea, co-host of the 2002 World Cup finals, need not participate in qualifying matches, China, which has embarked on a seventh bid for the World Cup finals, enlisted help from the psychologist for the first time. Ding Xueqin, an expert in sport psychology, became a part of the history as she begun to give lectures on how to refrain from being nerved in major events and conduct tests to find out what is wrong mentally with the national players. Head coach Bora Milutinovic, who is the only coach of leading four different teams into the second round of the World Cup finals, attached great importance to the psychology education. "In a sense, the mental self-adjustment is more important than the tactics," said the Yugoslavian. "Though it is just a beginning for the Chinese team, we need to pay it enough heed." Milutinovic, who is nicknamed "spiritual Massagist", is used to giving encouraging words to his proteges even after lost matches and often creates a light-hearted atmosphere during training. Players, however, have mixed reactions to the psychological treatment. Most gave positive comments but the Europe-based players were the exceptions. "I don't think I need any help from the psychologist. My club didn't either have such a mental doctor,"said Yang Chen, a striker with Bundesliga first division Frankfurt. "We have to handle everything independently in my club, while domestic player has almost everything done for them and therefore have a mental dependance. That is why they are easily losing confidence on the field,"said Yang. Xie Hui, who plays with Bundesliga second division club Aachen, argued that the psychological problem should not be exaggerated. "The mentality is really important, but in my eyes, the psychologist is not the key factor in winning matches,"said Xie. Ding also played down her efforts, saying that she is not a " doctor" but a "teacher". "Don't overrate the effect of psychological treatment. It is coaches who are ultimately significant to a team,"said Ding."I wish you could keep reasonable expectations on this." |
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