Chinese clubs urged to develop youth: report

make an international impact in the last decade and a half.

Bora Milutinovic led the country to their only World Cup appearance in 2002, before an Arie Haan-coached team reached the final of the Asian Cup on home soil two years later.

Since then, China have struggled, with the number of youngsters in the country playing the game diminishing as a number of factors, including match-fixing scandals, blighted the sport’s progress.

State and private entities have been throwing huge sums into the development and promotion of the game in recent years. High-profile imports such as Carlos Tevez, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Andre Villas-Boas and Oscar are among those who have worked in the Chinese Super League in the last 12 months, while the clubs have become more prominent on the continental scene.

The national team continue to struggle, however, with coach Marcello Lippi calling for patience as the nation seeks to make an impact on the global stage.

“When you talk about China, you have to think about the culture and the time China has spent with football,” he said after Tuesday’s loss to Japan in the East Asian Cup.

“It’s very different to Europe. I’m having to grow a team almost from scratch.”

Under the Italian, China recorded their best performance in World Cup qualifying since 2002, but the country still missed out on a place at next year’s finals in Russia.