Soccer (football)
Chinese name and literal translation: 足球 zuqiu (football)Soccer (football) enjoys plenty of popular support in China. CCTV airs international matches, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham appear on Adidas and Motorola billboards nationwide and the top teams of the domestic professional league draw large crowds. A national daily newspaper, Soccer News, covers domestic professional leagues in China and Europe, national teams and international competition. The FIFA-affiliated China Super League comprises both men's and women's professional teams.
Despite the excitement about the professional game and its popularity on the recreational level, China has yet to establish itself as a soccer power. The best hope for a medal in the 2008 Olympics lies with the women's team, nicknamed the “Steel Roses.” As the host of the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the team barely missed the semifinals by losing to Norway, 1-0. The loss came after wins over Denmark and New Zealand in group play.
The men's team qualified for its first FIFA World Cup in 2002, but failed to score a single goal in the tournament. The team did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup, drawing the frustration of many Chinese soccer lovers.
History in China:
While England typically gets credit for football's invention in the 17th century, several ancient cultures played versions of the game. A Han dynasty military text dating to the second century B.C., contains references to a game called football, used as part of soldiers' training. The Chinese Football Association joined FIFA in 1931 and debuted its domestic league, Jia A, in 1994. The men's and women's top professional leagues are now known as China Super League, with teams in more than a dozen cities.
Olympic Team Head Coaches:
Women - Shang Ruihua
Men - Ratomir Dujkovic
Men's National Team Head Coach: Vladimir Petrovic
Players to watch:
Women - Han Duan, striker; Ma Xiaoxu, striker; Zhang Yanru, goalkeeper
Men - Li Weifeng, defender; Li Jinyu, striker
Olympic Venues:
Workers' Stadium, Gongti Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
National Stadium, Olympic Green
Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Southern part of Olympics sports center
Preliminaries:
Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium, Tianjin
Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai
Shenyang Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Shenyang
Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province
2008 Olympic Competition Dates: Preliminaries, August 6-7; Official olympic competition August 9-23
Athens 2004 Medal Count: No medals.
Sport Organizations:
Football Association of China
Asian Football Confederation
East Asian Football Federation
Fédération Internationale de Football Association
Athletes:
Bi Yan 毕妍
Chen Dong 陈东
Chen Tao 陈涛
Du Zhenyu 杜震宇
Han Duan 韩端
Han Peng 韩鹏
Ji Mingyi 季铭义
Li Jie 李洁
Li Weifeng 李玮峰
Li Yan 李彦
Liu Yali 刘亚莉
Ma Xiaoxu 马晓旭
Pu Wei 浦玮
Qu Bo 曲波
Qu Feifei 曲飞飞
Song Zhenyu 宋振瑜
Sun Xiang 孙祥
Wang Dalei 王大雷
Wang Kun 王坤
Wang Song 汪嵩
Wang Xiao 王霄
Zhang Shuai 张帅
Zhang Ying 张颖
Zhao Junzhe 肇俊哲
Zheng Zhi 郑智
Zhou Haibin 周海滨
Zhu Ting 朱挺