It was a Chinese dream driven by the same sort of ambition that has seen this country rise from poverty to the world's second-largest economy in the space of just a few decades.
In 2011, around a year before becoming the country's leader, Xi Jinping outlined a vision to turn China from a footballing minnow to a soccer superpower, he set his sights on the sport's highest prize of all and outlined a three stage plan for the men's national team: to qualify for another World Cup, to host a World Cup and to win a World Cup.
The Chinese Super League became a hotbed for foreign superstars seeking lucrative pay days, every big-name signing more eyecatching than the last. Brazilian Alex Teixeira signed to Jiangsu Suning for $54 million; his compatriot Hulk to Shanghai SIPG for $60 million; Oscar, also to Shanghai, for $65 million.
With the CSL's 2023-24 season kicking off on April 15 , most teams are still frantically finding replacements. The fast-track naturalization of overseas players with family ties to China was seen as a quick way of elevating standards. The ex-Arsenal prospect Nico Yennaris and ex-Everton player Tyias Browning , both of whom have Chinese heritage, were among the first to take the step.
"It was a really difficult decision, because I knew that once I became a Chinese national, I would lose my chance to be called up for the Peru senior team," said Siucho, who formally changed his name to Xiao Taotao.Fast forward a few years and Siucho has renaturalized as a Peruvian and is back with his old club Universitario. He has ambitions of playing for the Peruvian national team.
China's strict"zero-Covid" policy had meant clubs were required to train and compete in"bio-secure" venues that players were unable to leave for months at a time. "That feeling was so awful, coming back home from training all alone. You look at pictures of your family on your phone and think, 'goddamn, I'm a married man, I have kids, what the hell is going on?'"While Covid restrictions were making life a misery for many of the players, the pandemic was creating havoc for the firms bankrolling their salaries.
Not all the problems were down to Covid; some were simply bad business decisions. In a bid to foster local talent, the Chinese Football Association in 2017 raised taxation on overseas signings -- any club that spent more than US$7 million would have to pay an equal amount to the CFA. Clubs responded by drastically tightening their wallets, which in turn hit fan turn-out and sponsorship interest.
The slide through the rankings of the men's national team shows that hasn't happened, even if a new head coach in Serbian Aleksandar Jankovic has been appointed in an effort to turn things round.
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