Australia's Tim Cahill (C) scores a goal from an overhead kick during their Asian Cup quarter-final soccer match against China at the Brisbane Stadium in Brisbane, Jan. 22, 2015. (Photo : REUTERS)
The average Chinese person would prefer his country winning a World Cup than 100 Olympic gold medals, according to an expert in Chinese football.
"People would go crazy," said Cameron Wilson, the founding editor of Wild East Football, a website about Chinese soccer.
Wilson emphasized that China had the fans to support a thriving domestic game with average match attendances for its Chinese Super League games at 20,000, higher than Japan's J-League.
"I think there is massive interest in football in China it is just that Chinese people are too embarrassed [about the national team at the moment]," said Wilson.
The country introduced a master plan to reform soccer, which includes the men's team qualifying for the quarterfinals of the World Cup, and for the country to host the event.
But winning will not happen overnight, Wilson observed. He said that if China, currently ranked 83rd by the International Football Federation, gets out of the group stages in 10 years or so then that would be deemed a respectable achievement.
The football website editor noted that China had abandoned a planned bid for the 2018 World Cup because they did not want to host the event knowing they would mostly likely get eliminated in the first round.
Wilson said that China's formal announcement to pursue hosting the World Cup showed they were confident of giving "a decent performance" by the time their turn to stage the tournament comes along.
But Wilson cautioned that while China's plan shows its commitment to becoming a football powerhouse, reforms will not be easy.
"It shows they are deadly serious about it, but the problems inside Chinese football are deeply ingrained," he quipped.
