China may be the world's most populous country ,and it won the most gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. But its prowess at soccer is lamentable. China is ranked 84th in the sport's world standings. Chinese are huge soccer fans, and hundreds of millions are expected to tune in to the World Cup, with all the matches broadcast live on public TV. But the Chinese won't have their own team to root for.
"Chinese have a reputation of being good at math, but they have trouble explaining why a population of 1.3 billion cannot produce a winning 11-member soccer team," said Xu Guoqi, a history professor at the University of Hong Kong.
Journalists and soccer fans offer a number of reasons, most often money issues, politics, corruption and culture, and sometimes a combination of the four.
Even though China now boasts wealthy companies and individuals who could sponsor teams, there is little support as long as Chinese teams are perceived as perennial losers. "This is a very bad circle," Ma said. "No results, no money. No money, no results."
Few Chinese children are playing soccer. Some sports journalists and fans attribute the lack of interest partly to schools de-emphasizing sports in general and the lack of playing venues in the country's dense urban areas. "What can Chinese kids do？“ said Fan Huiming, 61, a Chinese soccer fan who grew up watching matches at Beijing's Workers' Stadium, which was built in 1958 near his childhood home. "If they play soccer, the ball may fly directly into the glass of someone's home."
For young people, soccer has largely been eclipsed by basketball, thanks in part to Chinese NBA players who are treated like rock stars. Journalists and fans say NBA's aggressive campaign of marketing and merchandise in China has helped swell the popularity of basketball. By comparison, they noted that international soccer does not even have an office in China.
Rowan Simons, a Briton who came to China more than two decades ago and discovered he wasn't able to play weekend soccer, has been on a campaign to popularize the sport here. Simons said the main problem is that soccer elsewhere has traditionally started as a series of neighborhood clubs, but in China, "there's virtually no football at community level".
"Football in China can only succeed if it's a grass-roots activity organized by the people," he said.
中国大概是世界上人口最多的国家，也是新兴体育大国——在北京奥运会上获得最多金牌。但是中国的足球水平却不尽如人意.其国家队世界排名仅列第84位。
中国球迷队伍非常庞大，成千上万的球迷都会收看世界杯所有比赛的现场直播.但是中国球迷却没有自己真正需要支持的球队。
香港大学历史学教授徐国启（音）说，“中国人或许以擅长数学著称，但他们很难解释为什么13亿人口却组建不起来一支骁勇善战的11人球队”。
记者和球迷给出许多理由，大多数集中在资金、政治、腐败和文化方面，大多数也是这几个方面构成的综合原因。
尽管中国声称资金雄厚的公司和个人赞助球队，但只要中国球队被认为是扶不起的阿斗，那就得不到许多赞助。“这是一个怪圈，”体育记者马德兴（音）说，“没成绩，就没钱.没钱，就没成绩”。
很少中国孩子踢足球，一些记者和球迷认为，这在一定程度上是由于学校普遍不重视体育所致，另外则与中国的密集城区缺少足球场有关。“孩子们能做什么呢？”自幼就在北京工人体育场看比赛的61岁球迷范惠明（音）说，“如果他们踢球，球可能直接飞到别人家玻璃上去了”。
对中国年轻人而言，足球与篮球相比黯然失色。在NBA打球的中国球员被像摇滚明星一样追捧。记者和球迷表示NBA大力拓展中国市场提高了篮球普及率。相比之下，国际足联在中国甚至没有一个办事处。
20多年前来到中国的英国人西蒙斯，发现在周末都不能踢球后，就一直在中国致力于普及足球运动。他认为主要问题是其他国家传统上都从社区俱乐部做起，“而在中国，实际上并没有社区基础足球。”
西蒙斯说，“只有民众组织起草根活动后，中国足球才能够成功”。
