Long gone are the halcyon days when international stalwarts such as George Best, Bobby Moore and Johnny Rep thought the league attractive enough to close their careers in the territory. But now, not a chance. The local coaches are disastrous. They are unqualified and merely friends of the owner, who is some local tycoon who knows little about the game. In China, expectations are high and rising.
Football is everything there.
In 1986, fans rioted in Beijing after tiny Hong Kong eliminated the national team from the World Cup. In 1994, the equally scrawny Yemen knocked them out. One of his challenges will be to overcome centuries of cultural baggage. We have 5,000 years of history. Players have deferred to coaches, which has diminished their confidence to improvise and react to situations on the field.