As Messi won the first World Cup trophy in his career, the Argentine team was crowned for the third time, and the Qatar World Cup came to an end.
Although the French team failed to defend the title, with the continuous efforts in youth training in recent years, French football may continue to shine in competitions at all levels for many years to come. In his personal World Cup farewell game, “Magic Flute” Modric led the Croatian team to the third place with the second best result in team history.
On December 18, the Argentine players celebrated at the awards ceremony.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cao Can
Three AFC teams broke into the top 16 and made history. Morocco finished fourth, making African football history. Although the host Qatar has a poor team record, it has promoted the importance of football at all levels of society by hosting the World Cup, showing its traditional culture and economic strength to the world, and letting the world know more about the Middle East.
Although absent from the World Cup again, Chinese football should still have confidence in entering the World Cup finals again. Chinese football should fully study and learn from the enlightenment brought by the World Cup in Qatar, follow the essential laws of football, grasp the most cutting-edge “technical and tactical wind vane”, take the league as the cornerstone, and use youth training as the starting point, to enter the World Cup again and achieve sustainable development. Develop a solid foundation and create opportunities.
Asian and African football makes history
In this World Cup, three AFC teams from Japan, South Korea and Australia advanced to the round of 16, making history. Among them, the Japanese team lost to Croatia in a penalty shootout, only one step away from breaking into the quarterfinals and rewriting history. The Japanese team has participated in seven World Cups in a row and entered the top 16 for two consecutive times, showing that its stability has continued to increase. The century-old planning and firm implementation of Japanese football should be a reference for us.
When summarizing the experience and lessons of this World Cup, the Japanese media proposed to “pay more attention to individuals.” “Nihon Keizai Shimbun” quoted Japanese team coach Mori Hoichi as saying before the announcement of Japan’s World Cup roster: “Team (coordination ability) and individual (ability), if I choose one of the two, I may choose the individual.” His explanation is , Team ability is an advantage emphasized by Japan in various fields, but individual ability is even more indispensable for a team that has reached a certain level, and for a non-established team like the national team.
Mori Hoichi said after the end of the World Cup journey that everyone returned to the club to be down-to-earth and strive to improve themselves, which is the best way to strengthen the Japanese team-he continued to emphasize the improvement of players’ personal abilities.
After missing the knockout rounds in two consecutive World Cups, it is rare for the South Korean team to advance to the top 16. During the promotion process, they also defeated the Portuguese team with set-piece tactics. This is the reward for their support for players studying abroad over the years.
The Australian team entered the top 16 after 16 years. One of the reasons is that the local coach Alexander-Arnold received the support of many parties including the Australian Football Association, and the outstanding players emerging from the local league supported the national team.
The other three AFC teams all stopped in the group stage, but there are also highlights. For example, the Saudi team fought tenaciously, defeated the strong with the weak, and defeated the Argentine team.
Among the five African teams, the Moroccan team broke into the semi-finals, which is the most magnificent record written by an African team since its first participation in the World Cup in 1934. Having both African physique and European quality is the magic weapon for the Moroccan team.
On December 17, Morocco coach Walid Regraj (third from left) communicated with referee Al Jassim (third from right) after the game.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Meng Yongmin
What Enlightenments Chinese Football Has Gained
——Youth training, or youth training!
In the absence of many main players such as Benzema, Kanter, and Pogba, the French team broke the “curse” of the defending champion and made it all the way to the final, which shows the thickness of their talents. This is partly due to its professional league’s emphasis on youth training and giving young players enough space.
Restricted by the overall economic strength, except for Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1, other clubs are rarely able to spend a lot of money in the transfer market, and they are more likely to tap their potential internally.
The sports data website OPTA has made a statistics on the league playing time of players under the age of 21 before the end of the 2020-2021 season: As of April 2021, players under the age of 21 in Ligue 1 have played a total of 62,046 minutes in that season, ranking first in the five major leagues. 40% higher than the second-ranked Bundesliga.
Almost all the players of the French team in this World Cup come from its domestic youth training system. The injuries of Kanter and Pogba have damaged the midfield strength of the French team, but the 22-year-old Joan Ameni and the 23-year-old Fofana are impressive. Immediately, the former was born in the Bordeaux youth training system, and the latter debuted in a third-tier league club.
With the level of youth training maintained at a certain level, the space and opportunities given to young players by local professional leagues will feed back to the national team to a certain extent.
Although the Qatar team has a poor record in this World Cup, the Asian Cup championship and other achievements in recent years are obvious to all. The Asbel Sports Academy, which was built with a lot of money from the state, is one of the reasons for its rise.
Established in 2003, the academy has world-class training facilities. Relying on a well-developed scouting network, the academy has naturalized “potential stocks” on a global scale, supplemented by scientific training methods, a complete echelon system, and a compound coaching team. There are 18 people from the Qatar World Cup team from this academy.
The Mohammed VI Football Academy in Morocco is also well-equipped with the aim of allowing its outstanding football talents to receive the best training. Ennesri and Onasi, who performed well in the World Cup, all came from the academy.
Morocco adheres to the youth training concept of “not missing out every gifted child”. On the basis of the National Football Academy, it is equipped with a unified standard and small-scale local football academy. The country is divided into 12 regions to develop football. Regional Development. Spot talented kids through professional scouts and help them enroll in local football academies.
In order to ensure that talented children are not missed, the Moroccan Football Federation cooperates with the Moroccan Ministry of Education to ensure that schools support children who are willing to play football and provide them with a balanced football and learning schedule suitable for all stages of education.
Although China also has football academies with the prefix “国”, they are relatively focused on the academic field and have limited resources. If a national-level football youth training academy can be established with high-quality resources, it may help the national team to form a consistent technical and tactical style.
This year, the Japanese Football Association released the national football strategy white paper “The Way of Japan” to adjust and refine the football development strategy. The long-term goal of the Japanese Football Association is to host the World Cup again in 2050 and win the championship, and the football population will reach 10 million; at the same time, it will be supplemented by a number of short-term and medium-term plans.
Combined with the “Centennial Plan for Japanese Football” proposed in the 1990s, most of its goals have been achieved or are close to being achieved. Generations of Japanese football players have made solid progress according to the established plan, and Japanese football has continued to progress.
Promoting the physical and mental health of the people and building a happy football country are placed in an important position in the strategic planning of the Japanese Football Association. This awareness of “football for all” is the root of the steady progress of Japanese football.
Chinese football has also formulated multiple plans since the 1990s, some of which are still applicable today, but due to various reasons, many plans have not been effectively implemented so far. Even the “Overall Plan for the Reform and Development of Chinese Football” issued in 2015 failed to implement individual contents. Unifying thinking, emphasizing execution, and not tossing should become the consensus for the future development of Chinese football.
——League-based
The poor performance of the Qatar team in this World Cup is not unrelated to the long-term training and neglect of the league.
Since all players are from their home league, the Qatar team can often organize training camps. Beginning in June this year, the Qatar team went to Spain to organize a closed training camp, and all national team players were absent from the follow-up league.
Long-term training may improve tacit understanding, but without experience in high-level leagues, the players are extremely nervous when they stand on the World Cup field and make fatal mistakes one after another.
In the World Cup, after all, those teams with a large football population, good youth training quality, and high league level win more victories. Trying to sacrifice the league in exchange for the national team’s performance will not work.
There have also been cases in China where the league was suspended for major competitions. Facts have proved that only by respecting the league and taking the league as the cornerstone of a country’s football can it really boost the level of the national team.
——Technical and tactical “new direction”
Klinsmann, a member of the FIFA technical research group, said that the success of pass-and-control football in this World Cup is not ideal, and there is often a lack of “terminators” to make a final decision. Team leader Wenger said that it is not that pass control is outdated, but that efficiency and speed must be taken into account. The delicate techniques required in pass control, such as stopping and catching the ball, are still the basis for the future development of players. In addition, crossing is still an effective means of scoring; the role of the center forward is changing, and he needs to take on more defensive tasks.
It is very important to keep up with the development trend of world football technology. The Japan Football Association Technical Committee will share the latest developments in football, problems related to itself and solutions in a timely manner, so as to coordinate the relevant planning of national teams, clubs and even grassroots and youth football at all levels, and unify skills and tactics.
——Encourage study abroad
Nineteen of Japan’s 26-man roster play in the Europa League. Among the 831 players in this World Cup, there are more than 130 Premier League players, distributed in 26 teams. The importance of studying abroad is highlighted.
The Canadian team, which returns to the World Cup after 36 years, encourages players to play in Europe. “We have players who can win the Champions League final (Alfonso Davies), and we have players (15) all over the Europa League,” Canada coach Hedelman said.
With the end of the “Golden Dollar Football” era, Chinese players have to get out of the original “comfort zone” and continue to study abroad. Even if he joins a European non-mainstream league team, this kind of experience will still help improve the overall level of Chinese football. At present, the number of Chinese football players studying abroad is increasing, especially for women football players, but the aggressiveness of Chinese players to gain a foothold in Europe needs to be strengthened and the scale still needs to be expanded.
—— Rational Naturalization
There are more than 130 naturalized players in the World Cup in Qatar, accounting for more than 15%.
Among them, there are 14 naturalized players in the Moroccan team, accounting for more than half; naturalized players can play a very important role in creating African football history.
The Qatar team also has more than 10 naturalized players. They were recruited to the Asbel Sports Academy for training since they were young, and then naturalized to represent the Qatar team as adults.
In the early days of the rise of Japanese football, players were naturalized, but they just took advantage of it and quickly completed their mission.
The Chinese team also naturalized many players in the process of impacting this World Cup, but the effect was not good, which is related to the fact that most players have passed their peak period. This also raises a new topic for us: at what age do we naturalize? What are the assessment criteria in the naturalization process? When is it no longer naturalized?
On December 18, French player Kolo Mouani (middle) competed with Argentine player Otamendi in a match.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xiao Yijiu
The stacking effect of the World Cup
What the World Cup brings to a country is not only changes in football and sports, but also brings superimposed effects on the host country and its region in economic, social, cultural and other aspects.
By hosting this top-level event, Qatar has ignited the football enthusiasm of its youth, promoted the attention of football at all levels of society, and played an irreplaceable role in promoting the popularization and improvement of football in Qatar in the future; the venues and facilities have been updated to host for the future The Asian Cup and other competitions have laid a solid foundation; the subway and other infrastructure have been built for the enjoyment of the people; the country’s image has been further enhanced, its traditional culture and economic strength have been shown to the world, and it has also allowed the world to further understand the Middle East and experience the Arabian style.
Although the Chinese men’s football team failed to make an appearance in Qatar, the “Made in China” Lusail Stadium and China’s new energy buses, as well as Chinese elements such as Chinese referees, Chinese sponsors, and giant pandas, have become an important place to showcase China’s achievements and conduct exchanges and mutual learning. carrier.
The “China Women’s Football Reform and Development Plan (2022-2035)” proposes to actively bid for the 2031 Women’s World Cup, and the “Overall Plan for the Reform and Development of Chinese Football” puts forward a long-term goal of “actively bidding for the FIFA Men’s World Cup”.
If the above-mentioned competitions can be successfully bid, it will greatly promote the construction of Chinese football venues and facilities, personnel training, industrial development, national team building, football population expansion, etc., and help realize the goal of becoming a sports power.
[Responsible editor: Gao Linlin]