On July 15, veteran football journalist Ma Dexing published an article in the Oriental Sports Daily stating that Chinese football's learning should not be limited to emotions.
Ma Dexing wrote in the article
As the 2026 USA-Canadian World Cup draws to a close, for Chinese fans across the ocean, the World Cup is just a spectacle and a show, as it has little to do with Chinese football.
Every four years after the World Cup, we hear or see various discussions and research. Unfortunately, all of this learning and research is "emotional" and rife with "utilitarianism." Because Chinese football has long missed the World Cup, those involved in football are under considerable pressure, and administrators feel an even greater sense of responsibility. This is mainly due to strong public opinion, which in turn triggers related "public opinion storms." Once these storms arise, high-level leaders become restless and demand solutions and plans from below . To achieve these solutions and plans, various so-called "learning" and "research" activities emerge endlessly. Therefore, over the years, from learning Italy's defensive counter-attacking style to learning from Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, and so on. Of course, this doesn't even include learning from neighboring countries. In short, Chinese football has never stopped learning over the past 30 years.
Why has Chinese football remained stagnant for so many years? The answer boils down to one thing: driven by self-interest and emotion. For over 30 years, it hasn't been properly studied or learned. Therefore, the amateur sports school system that Chinese football relied on for survival has long been completely rejected. Now, instead, the so-called "youth training center system" and "football academy system" are being vigorously promoted, because European and American football, as well as neighboring Japan, operate this way. However, these youth training center systems and football academy systems in Europe, America, and even Japan, are actually derived from the "amateur sports school system" prevalent in the Soviet Union, former Eastern European socialist countries, and even China. They have been expanded and developed by combining them with their own national systems and social realities. Essentially, they are completely the same as the "professional sports system"—a "three- (four-) level talent transfer system or network." The only difference is the name. But in our pursuit of "learning," we insist on devaluing our mature system, endlessly magnifying the drawbacks of the "professional sports system," and ultimately rejecting it entirely, while failing to establish a completely new system.
The complete rejection of the "professional system" is evident, as is the large-scale so-called "naturalization." Because watching the World Cup and seeing other participating teams with naturalized players, people couldn't help but question: Why can't the Chinese team introduce naturalized players? The end result? A complete mess. And this, too, is an emotional outcome.
Therefore, as the 2026 USA-Mexico World Cup draws to a close, once the dust settles, what Chinese football needs most is to de-emotionalize! The "emotional value" emphasized in marketing tactics should not be brought into the development and construction of Chinese football.
