On the 5th (local time), the Chinese national football team lost 0-1 in the 9th away match against Indonesia held in Jakarta, finishing last in Group C (6 points) and failing to advance to the finals. Photo by Xinhua News Agency
China has suffered a mental breakdown. After losing to Indonesia for the first time in 68 years and failing to achieve its long-cherished goal of qualifying for the World Cup finals, criticism is mounting against the national football team, its players, and the entire Chinese football community.
On the 5th (local time), China lost 0-1 in the 9th away match against Indonesia held in Jakarta, finishing last in Group C with 6 points and failing to qualify for the finals. For this North and Central America World Cup, the number of participating countries has increased to 48, and the number of finals tickets allocated to the Asian region has also increased to 8.5. While countries such as Uzbekistan and Jordan succeeded in reaching the finals for the first time in their history, China, which has provided unwavering support for football, once again failed to clear the hurdle. There has been analysis that both the expansion of participating countries and the increase in Asian slots were made with the 1.4 billion-strong Chinese market in mind, but in reality, China was unable to benefit from these changes.
On the 5th (local time), the Chinese national football team lost 0-1 in the 9th away match against Indonesia held in Jakarta, finishing last in Group C (6 points) and failing to advance to the finals. Photo by Xinhua News Agency
Chinese media described this defeat against Indonesia as a historic loss. China lost to Indonesia for the first time in 38 years since 1987. In terms of FIFA-organized tournaments, it is the first loss in 68 years, since 1957.
On the Chinese portal Sina.com, angry reactions from Chinese netizens continued. One netizen wrote, "Anyone from the village supermarket would be better than them (the national team)." Other comments included, "I knew they would lose, but I didn't expect it to be this easy," "We hadn't lost in 68 years, just disband the team," "Let's get rid of Chinese football," and "Chinese football is a joke, surrounded by flies."
On the 5th (local time), the Chinese national football team lost 0-1 in the 9th away match against Indonesia held in Jakarta, finishing last in Group C (6 points) and failing to advance to the finals. Photo by Xinhua News Agency
Regarding the high salaries received by Chinese football players, some commented, "This is not a place for irresponsible players, but for those who truly play football," and "Forget about disbanding. Too much money is being drained. We might make more money if we just build a chicken coop instead."
One netizen wrote, "What Chinese people despise may not be Chinese football itself, but the fact that Chinese football makes us feel contempt for ourselves. If football returns to its true form, it could become the most popular sport in China."
There were also calls for calmly preparing for the next tournament. A post stating, "Records exist to be broken, and goals exist to be surpassed," received hundreds of likes. There were also opinions suggesting that preparations for the 2030 World Cup should begin four years in advance.
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