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Asian Debate: Can Gao Hongbo Lead China To The 2014 World Cup?
China's new boss has a tough job ahead in the Middle Kingdom.
May 25, 2009 11:39:49 PM
It is
almost obligatory for any coach who takes the China job to start talking about
the next World Cup and how it is all going to be different.
In China’s case however, the next World Cup is no longer the South African version but the one that will take place in Brazil four years later.
Despite the fact that qualification is not yet over, the world’s most populous nation will not be represented on the global stage in 2010.
That is the main reason why Gao Hongbo is the youngest occupant of the Chinese hotseat for 30 years and the reason why he has a good deal of work to do.
He is also the seventh coach since the turn of the century but he has a four-point plan that he intends to follow to restore pride to the national team and hope to the country’s football fans.
1- Qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup and make it, at least, past the group stage.
2- Develop a new style and tactics for China.
3- Qualify for the 2014 World Cup
4- Show the best of Chinese football in Brazil in 2014.
Such plans are not new in China, predecessors such as the ill-fated Vladomir Petrovic who presided over the failed 2010 World Cup qualification bid along with Ratomir Dujkovic and predecessors did something similar.
Few have achieved anything like what they pledged to do. Bora Milutinovic took the team to a first World Cup in 2002. Three defeats followed but it was a start. Then two years later, the team reached the final of the Asian Cup. Then nothing...
Talking to Bora recently, he said enigmatically that the beautiful game in China will remain stagnant until those who think they know about football realize that they actually don’t.
He wouldn’t be the first to criticise the Chinese Football Association, a body that has been blamed for a lack of leadership and incompetence. Now they have plumped for Gao in a hope that his youth and title winning experience will be just what the team needs.
The 43 year-old took Changchun Yatai, a club only promoted to the top flight at the end of 2005, to the 2007 title. That triumph came through a blend of experienced imports playing to their best and a good crop of younger domestic players.
It didn’t last. 2008 came and results were poor. Those overseas stars couldn’t match the heights of the previous year and Gao started to fall out with some of the locals. He left on bad terms.
Many believe that is why Gao selected seven Tianjin players in his first squad and only one from Changchun. That was extra motivation for his former club to defeat Tianjin last week. "We wanted to show Mr Gao that Changchun's players could do as well as Tianjin's players," said goalkeeper Zong Lei, one of many to feel that Gao is still bitter about his team in the north-east.
The player Gao famously fell out with was Du Zhenyu. The stocky star is still one of China’s most talented players and his relationship with Gao become frosty as he was drafted in and out of the team. It is safe to say that Du will not be the happiest player in China at the moment.
Such shenanigans are an inauspicious start for what is going to be a tough job. When asked about Du, Gao skirted the question.
“We don't have any big-name player in China, not like Park Ji-sung in Korea. I respect the individuality of every player, so I hope they would do the same thing to the coach.”
That remains to be seen. A number of players were accused of lacking respect for the coach, the shirt and the fans during the Beijing Olypmics debacle that saw the host nation collect just one point from three games.
Gao has three games coming up in his first month. China face Germany, Iran and Saudi Arabia. These are all friendlies but poor results will put pressure on Gao and he has already found out that coaching China is a tough job.
The first competitive game comes in the shape of an Asian Cup qualifier with Lebanon in November. China have won and lost one so far in the group and further slips will make the new man’s reign a short one.
"From now on, I will have no weekends, no time off,” Gao told reporters.
Hard work is a given but most of all, patience is needed. Talk of 2014 is premature, first Gao needs to build a team and restore pride to a battered football nation.
John Duerden, Asia Editor john.duerden@goal.com
In China’s case however, the next World Cup is no longer the South African version but the one that will take place in Brazil four years later.
Despite the fact that qualification is not yet over, the world’s most populous nation will not be represented on the global stage in 2010.
That is the main reason why Gao Hongbo is the youngest occupant of the Chinese hotseat for 30 years and the reason why he has a good deal of work to do.
He is also the seventh coach since the turn of the century but he has a four-point plan that he intends to follow to restore pride to the national team and hope to the country’s football fans.
1- Qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup and make it, at least, past the group stage.
2- Develop a new style and tactics for China.
3- Qualify for the 2014 World Cup
4- Show the best of Chinese football in Brazil in 2014.
Such plans are not new in China, predecessors such as the ill-fated Vladomir Petrovic who presided over the failed 2010 World Cup qualification bid along with Ratomir Dujkovic and predecessors did something similar.
Few have achieved anything like what they pledged to do. Bora Milutinovic took the team to a first World Cup in 2002. Three defeats followed but it was a start. Then two years later, the team reached the final of the Asian Cup. Then nothing...
Talking to Bora recently, he said enigmatically that the beautiful game in China will remain stagnant until those who think they know about football realize that they actually don’t.
He wouldn’t be the first to criticise the Chinese Football Association, a body that has been blamed for a lack of leadership and incompetence. Now they have plumped for Gao in a hope that his youth and title winning experience will be just what the team needs.
The 43 year-old took Changchun Yatai, a club only promoted to the top flight at the end of 2005, to the 2007 title. That triumph came through a blend of experienced imports playing to their best and a good crop of younger domestic players.
It didn’t last. 2008 came and results were poor. Those overseas stars couldn’t match the heights of the previous year and Gao started to fall out with some of the locals. He left on bad terms.
Many believe that is why Gao selected seven Tianjin players in his first squad and only one from Changchun. That was extra motivation for his former club to defeat Tianjin last week. "We wanted to show Mr Gao that Changchun's players could do as well as Tianjin's players," said goalkeeper Zong Lei, one of many to feel that Gao is still bitter about his team in the north-east.
The player Gao famously fell out with was Du Zhenyu. The stocky star is still one of China’s most talented players and his relationship with Gao become frosty as he was drafted in and out of the team. It is safe to say that Du will not be the happiest player in China at the moment.
Such shenanigans are an inauspicious start for what is going to be a tough job. When asked about Du, Gao skirted the question.
“We don't have any big-name player in China, not like Park Ji-sung in Korea. I respect the individuality of every player, so I hope they would do the same thing to the coach.”
That remains to be seen. A number of players were accused of lacking respect for the coach, the shirt and the fans during the Beijing Olypmics debacle that saw the host nation collect just one point from three games.
Gao has three games coming up in his first month. China face Germany, Iran and Saudi Arabia. These are all friendlies but poor results will put pressure on Gao and he has already found out that coaching China is a tough job.
The first competitive game comes in the shape of an Asian Cup qualifier with Lebanon in November. China have won and lost one so far in the group and further slips will make the new man’s reign a short one.
"From now on, I will have no weekends, no time off,” Gao told reporters.
Hard work is a given but most of all, patience is needed. Talk of 2014 is premature, first Gao needs to build a team and restore pride to a battered football nation.
John Duerden, Asia Editor john.duerden@goal.com
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