The Italian impact
Football cooperation between China, Italy thrives
Italian soccer great Fabio Cannavaro has surprised many as he takes the reins of the Chinese national football team for the China Cup friendly series, while he remains as the head coach of Chinese Super League giants Guangzhou Evergrande.
Though Cannavaro’s appointment came in a notice released by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) to assemble a “national training team” rather than a traditionally notice for a “national team,” it is widely believed the former Italy captain will take the permanent job of the national team after the China Cup friendly series this month.
The head coach post was vacated since January when Cannavaro’s mentor and compatriot Marcello Lippi, under whom Cannavaro lifted the World Cup in 2006, left the team after the 2019 Asian Cup where China finished as quarterfinalists.
Since taking the reins of the Chinese national team in 2016, Lippi has led China to a revival on a performance point of view. Though no longer the head coach, Lippi was named a “consultant” for the national training team. Combination
Both Lippi and Cannavaro had stints with club teams of the Chinese Super League (CSL), and brought the Italian impact to the Chinese league tactically.
Under Lippi, Guangzhou Evergrande became CSL champions from 2012 to 2014, with a historic Asian Champions League title in 2013.
Cannavaro, formerly an assistant coach to Lippi at Guangzhou before taking the reins of China League One side Tianjin Quanjian, led the Tianjinbased team to a promotion to CSL and finished their debut season in third place in 2017.
Zhang Lu, a Chinese football pundit, said Italian football theories are tactically sound.
“Compared to traditional European football which stresses strength and South American football which stresses techniques, Italian football theory combines both and weighs heavier on tactics,” Zhang told the Global Times.
“As Chinese players are not excellent in strength and techniques, the Italian theory will be a good choice for them to ride on.”
Italian football is known for its “chain” defense, known as “catenaccio,” a tactical system in football with a strong emphasis on defense.
In Italian, catenaccio means “doorbolt,” which implies a highly organized backline defense focused on nullifying opponents’ attacks and preventing goalscoring opportunities. It is this tactic which contributed to Italy winning the FIFA World Cup four times, second only to Brazil.
Beyond the two famed Italian coaches, six Italy internationals had spells with the CSL since Damiano Tommasi joined Tianjin Teda in 2009. The CSL boasts of three Italians: Graziano Pellè of Shandong Luneng, Éder and Gabriel Paletta of Jiangsu Suning.
Since state broadcaster CCTV started streaming Italian top-tier league Serie A in 1990, Italian football quickly gained popularity among Chinese – it was the first time for Chinese to watch a European top-level league.
What also boosted the Italian football presence in China was its wide reputation.
Dubbed the “mini-World Cup,” Serie A in the 1990s harbored plenty of international stars, which made it possible for Chinese to get to know the names of Roberto Baggio and Paolo Maldini as well as the stories behind them.
Chinese investment
Thanks to Italian football’s continuing popularity in the world’s most populous nation, Chinese entrepreneurs have started investing in Italian clubs.
The high-profile purchase of Italian teams include Desports buying a majority stake in Parma in 2017.
Following bankruptcy in 2015, the former Serie A giants Parma were re-founded in Serie D. And it only took three seasons before they returned to Italian top flight.
Jiang Lizhang, chief of Desports, said buying Parma ultimately helped Chinese football grow.
“We hope to learn from Parma’s successful experience in club management and benefit Chinese football in return,” Jiang said.
Though all of Parma’s silverware came from 1992 to 2002, Jiang is not worried the team’s reputation has narrowed down, as he said even when the team were in the lowest league in Italy, its seasonal tickets still reached 9,000.
The club also has a famed football academy, where Italy’s 2006 World Cup winners Gianluigi Buffon and Simone Barone had spent years with. It is also a part Jiang sees the future of bilateral cooperation.
“Parma’s excellent youth academy could help build a solid foundation for football, and kids with huge football potential could try out there,” Jiang said, noting it has established ways to help Chinese players handle the language problem.
Chinese conglomerate Suning Group purchased Serie A giants Inter Milan in 2016.
It helped the Nanjing-based Suning Holding Group gain popularity overseas, as Inter Milan’s training center bears Suning’s name.
As Suning Group owns both Inter Milan and CSL’s Jiangsu, it is widely expected that the two clubs will enjoy wider collaborations.
Italian football governing body FIGC expressed their willingness in 2016, when then president Carlo Tavecchio signed an agreement with the CFA to contribute to the transformation of China into a football powerhouse by “exporting” their football knowledge.
Under the Chinese national football reform plan, which started in 2015, all Chinese schools’ curriculums must include mandatory football classes from elementary to high school.
It is youth training that Chinese football needs to improve, pundit Zhang said.
“Players’ ability rather than the coach’s is the problem, as a famed coach like Lippi cannot lead China to qualify for the World Cup,” Zhang noted.
“That means we should focus on popularizing the sport further and improving our youth training level.”