{"id":237679,"date":"2022-02-02T19:45:13","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T03:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=237679"},"modified":"2022-02-07T17:37:10","modified_gmt":"2022-02-08T01:37:10","slug":"chinese-mens-national-soccer-team-loses-to-vietnam-are-paradoxical-policies-to-blame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2022\/02\/chinese-mens-national-soccer-team-loses-to-vietnam-are-paradoxical-policies-to-blame\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Men\u2019s National Soccer Team Loses to Vietnam: Are Paradoxical Policies to Blame?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday, the Chinese men\u2019s national soccer team suffered a <\/span>heavy 3-1 loss to rivals Vietnam<\/span><\/a> in the third and final round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which <\/span>effectively knocked China out of the competition<\/span><\/a>. An outpouring of fan frustration on Chinese social media has renewed attention to some of the paradoxes plaguing Chinese soccer: a nation with a population of 1.4 billion people that is soon to host the world\u2019s biggest sporting event fails to even qualify in the world\u2019s most popular sport.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s defeat in Hanoi was particularly bad news for the Chinese team, which only scraped back a consolation goal in the final minutes of the game and now sits near the bottom of the table in group B. This marks China\u2019s seventh consecutive defeat of the campaign, and <\/span>Vietnam\u2019s first ever win over China<\/span><\/a>. \u201cWinning over China is <\/span>a billion times bigger than winning other teams<\/span><\/a>,\u201d one Vietnamese fan told AFP. Nicolas Atkin from the South China Morning Post described <\/span>Chinese social media criticism of the \u201cembarrassing\u201d and \u201chumiliating\u201d result<\/strong><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

The national team\u2019s defeat to Vietnam quickly [became] the top trending hashtag on China\u2019s Twitter-like social media platform Weibo, racking up more than 1.28 million mentions within two hours of the game ending.<\/span><\/p>\n

[…] \u201cSuch a score, and such a defeat to miss the World Cup is absolutely unacceptable to every Chinese fan,\u201d wrote one Weibo user. \u201cWhat have we experienced in the past 20 years? How will we live in the next 20 years?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Others were seemingly resigned to defeat before the match even kicked off. \u201cTo tell the truth,\u201d one comment read, \u201cthis result is normal\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

[…] Several users called for the team to be disbanded altogether, given their abject display against Vietnam.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe men of the national football team have already lost their blood and backbone, or they should be dissolved. Losing to Vietnam, they are really shameless,\u201d wrote one.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t go back to China, stay there,\u201d another comment read, suggesting the team not \u201cwaste domestic resources\u201d by returning to isolate. [<\/span>Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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China's slim hope of qualifying for the #Qatar2022<\/a> was crushed by a 3-1 loss to Vietnam in the final round of 2022 FIFA World Cup #AsianQualifiers<\/a> yesterday, which is also the Chinese New Year's Day, Xinhua reported. pic.twitter.com\/jjdRR6DAIL<\/a><\/p>\n

— Yicai Global \u7b2c\u4e00\u8d22\u7ecf (@yicaichina) February 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n