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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 30 2002 : 5:50:07 PM
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2002 World Cup - Failure or victory?
"I heard that the general feeling throughout China after the 2002 World Cup is that the team somehow failed. But is there a reason to feel this way? Let's be honest, China did not do as well as expected, but considering their performance a failure is going too far.
In Brazil there is a saying: "A winner is nothing more than an experienced loser." It means that no one can win before losing a few times. It is through our defeats that we gain the knowledge and experience to achieve our victories.
Japan and South Korea performed very well in this year's World Cup. However, how many games did Japan win during the 1998 World Cup? And how many games did South Korea win during its participation in previous World Cups?
The answer is zero! When we compare China's performance to these facts, then it is easy to see that its performance was typical of a country that is playing in the World Cup for the first time.
In my experience as a football coach, I have been to World Cups in all age categories. I participated in the U-20 World Cup in 1989 with Brazil, the Senior World Cup in 1998 with Jamaica and in the U-17 World Cup in Trinidad with Trinidad & Tobago.
No matter what age category, all World Cups require players be in top physical and mental shape to endure the continuing demand placed on them by their personal fears of defeat. It is no easy job even for professional players who are veterans at World Cups. The pressure felt by newcomers is even greater.
But where does China go from here? Two things must be done. One is to examine the World Cup performance in order to find out what could have been done differently, why did China qualify, what was done right and what was done wrong. Without this examination of all factors that played a part in China's performance there can be no improvement.
The second thing that must be done, which is in my opinion the most important, is to develop a football program or project that will: Develop not only the senior team but also younger teams; Create a disciplined group; Improve the technical, tactical, physical and mental skills of the players; Develop a diet that is appropriate for professional athletes;
Create a team of scouts that will observe players all over the country and invite the most talented to try out for the national team; and start a coaching school to ensure that all teams are properly trained.
The major problem that China faced during the World Cup was that players lacked international experience. One of the most important aspects of a football program is to expose players to international games so they can prepare their physical and mental capacities. When I coached the Jamaican national team we traveled to more than 28 countries and played over 100 games in four years as part of the World Cup preparation. In addition, players went to Brazil four times for training games, playing 25 games against Brazilian teams in order to learn the Brazilian playing style that was consistent with my style of coaching. This style emphasizes being creative, letting the ball do most of the work, conserving energy during a game to be used when most needed, maintaining ball possession and most of all enjoying the game.
So China did not fail, it triumphed because qualifying to be among the best nations in the world is no easy task. I see a bright future in football for this country as long as a serious football program is put into practice. The defeats of the past will lead you into the victories of the future. Good luck!"
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Karl |
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Rene and another of his writings - China
