Reuters Soccer Blog

‘Special One’ makes few friends in China

If Inter Milan were intending their trip to Beijing for last week’s Italian Super Cup to be a China charm offensive, coach Jose Mourinho was obviously not kept in the loop.

The accepted form for European club officials on pre-season trips to China is to politely praise everything local and talk up the footballing potential of the world’s most populous nation.

After Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Lazio in the traditional Italian season curtain-raiser between the Serie A champions and Cup winners, Mourinho departed from the script.

The post-match news conference got off to a bad start when the local interpreter expressed his delight at Lazio’s victory and invited Chinese media to ask Mourinho difficult questions.

Matters did not improve when Mourinho, who earlier in the week had described the Bird’s Nest stadium — China’s pride and joy — as “so-so”, arrived on the podium.

The first question from state broadcaster CCTV, suggesting he had been forced into letting new signing Samuel Eto’o play a full 90 minutes, was answered politely.

The second, from a local newspaper reporter, asked why Lazio, playing on the same pitch and in the same searing heat that Mourinho had previously complained about, were able to win.

from Changing China:

China’s infertile ground for (some) Western sports

Soccer is in a tight spot in China -- literally. Huge crowds roar for Manchester United but the national team is a laughing stock at 108th in FIFA world rankings. Poor coaching, lack of grassroots development, even corruption and violence are variously cited as reasons for the sport's demise. But the real reason may be more basic: the fact of physical space, or the lack thereof, in China.

If geography is a determinant of economic development, then it is fair to extrapolate that urban geography underpins the development of sports. And here's the rub for soccer, not to mention American football and baseball. With few parks, small concrete schoolyards and a dearth of quiet streets, urban China offers little of the space needed for the sprawling play that defines those sports. Soccer has deep roots in China, but playing space has been squeezed as cities sprawl and swallow land in big gulps.

The NBA's huge popularity in China has left other sports leagues salivating. They, too, dream of their own Yao Ming bringing forth TV audiences in the tens of millions and merchandising opportunities galore. But basketball can thank China's spatial constraints more than its own marketing wizardry for such success. Dozens of nets crammed into schoolyards make the sport accessible to a huge number of young enthusiasts. The ease with which basketball has been woven into China's urban fabric has a precedent in the explosion of Chinese table tennis in the 1950s. Both are simple enough games that can be played in tight spaces.

Curiously, the physical limitations of the crowded country augur well for one sport that uses more space than almost any other: golf. Unlike baseball, football and soccer, golf does not need a critical mass of ardent supporters to take off. Golf, in fact, can thrive in conditions of scarcity, when a small number of high-priced courses consolidate its position as an elite pastime. The lack of space in China makes it an expensive sport, out of reach for the great unwashed and just the ticket for the country's nouveau riche.

Photo Credit: Local fans of Manchester United hold signs and posters as they look into the hotel where the players stayed in on July 25, 2009 ahead of a friendly match against Hangzhou Greentown. REUTERS/Nir Elias

from Left field:

A high altitude idea from China

Bolivia's 6-1 thrashing of Argentina in a World Cup qualifier provided a flash of inspiration for one Chinese sports columnist.

The Bolivians, ranked 56th in the world, would probably not argue that playing the match at 3,600 metres above sea level had helped them in their humiliation of the Argentines, world number six in FIFA's rankings and one of the most attractive sides around.

Yu Peng suggested that China should immediately build a new stadium in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and play all their home international matches there.

At 50 metres higher than La Paz, that could only improve the fortunes of the 100th-ranked Chinese, who are already out of the running for a place in South Africa next year.

Germany’s political football

Germany’s general election may still be a year away, but the challengers are already battling it out for the big political prize on unlikely territory — at Euro 2008.

Both conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Social Democratic rival, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, are going to great lengths to associate themselves with the German team.

Steinmeier surprised journalists during a trip to China last week when he converted an ordinary fuel stop in Helsinki into a soccer-watching party.

Eager to catch Germany’s match against Croatia, Steinmeier had his China-bound plane roll to the door of a VIP lounge at Helsinki Airport immediately upon landing just before half-time, where a giant TV screen was set up for the ambitious foreign minister, his accompanying aides and journalists.

Cringing when Croatia went ahead 2-0, Steinmeier jumped up from his front row seat and headed for the door, grumbling: ‘The fuel tank must be full by now.’ But it turned out he was only joking. He sat back down in time to see Germany pull one back before ultimately losing 2-1.

Just days later, Merkel, Steinmeier (wearing a tacky tie with the red, black and gold German colours) and four other equally ambitious ministers from Merkel’s cabinet flew to Vienna to watch Germany’s next match against Austria.