The emblem of Bayern Munich at its headquarters. (Photo : Getty Images News)
Bayern Munich of German soccer league Bundesliga will open a soccer academy in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province in China to bring its youth development knowledge and expertise to Chinese coaches and players.
Training schools by top international clubs will help promote youth soccer in China as it strives to become a soccer power.
The German club, which wants to strengthen its presence in the country, opened an office in Shanghai to help improve the training system for Chinese junior players.
Xie Liang, a veteran soccer commentator with Radio Guangdong, noted that more advanced soccer elements training or understanding are expected after the establishment of the soccer academies. He added that China can learn more from Germany's experience and expertise.
In February, Spanish football club Barcelona also opened a soccer academy in China, at Haikou, capital of Hainan Province.
Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho, now an ambassador for Barcelona, said that with top professionals that coming over, soccer is going to grow faster in China than ever.
Meanwhile, Brazilian soccer club Santos also intends to build a soccer academy in China with the Sun Yat-sen Experimental Middle School in Zhongshan, Guangdong. It aims to develop young talent and coaches.
Real Madrid of the Spanish La Liga club and Chelsea of the English Premier League are already operating soccer schools with Chinese Super League teams Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao and Guangzhou R&F, respectively.
The benefits of having a strong youth academy system have been proven by Germany, Spain and the Netherlands with their outstanding performances in the European competition and in the World Cup.
Early this year, China's football association vice president Wang Dengfeng revealed that China is planning on building 50,000 football academies by 2020, more than doubling its previous target of 20,000. Each academy is expected to train at least 1,000 young players
China has the ambition to become a powerhouse in soccer.
