Chinese President Xi Jinping, a supposedly die-hard football fan, has recently vowed to turn China into a footballing superpower, in addition to increasing its economic prowess. In doing so, former England manager and current Shanghai SIPG coach Sven-Göran Eriksson has claimed that China could take home the World Cup in the next decade.
Speaking at a press conference before SIPG's Asian Champion's League game against Melbourne Victory on Tuesday, Eriksson stated that “the future for China is great.” And as China invests more money into developing its football talent, Eriksson believes that they could win the World Cup in “10 to 15 years.” (SIPG went on to lose 2-1 to Melbourne).
Eriksson compared China to England during the 2000s (which led to their World Cup titles?!) and Italy in the 1990s (okay, they won it... in 2006). He firmly stated that China was the place to be to develop talent and simultaneously see success. If the Chinese Super League becomes stronger, he also suggested that more Chinese youth will gain interest and the pool of rising talent will grow.
The Chinese national team are currently ranked 93rd in the world, lying between Botswana and the Faroe Islands, and the Chinese Football Association have not been as (wildly) optimistic about the future of Chinese football. The President of the Association, Cai Zhenhua, took a more realistic line when he told Xinhua last year that “the development of Chinese soccer must be a long process.”
Until then, Chinese officials have argued that China should continue to do what it does best — hold global sporting events. Before winning a World Cup, officials have argued that China should host a World Cup. With the continental rotation system in place, the next World Cup that Beijing could place a bid for would be in 2030.
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