Interview: China's soccer needs more attenttion to base than investment in top

Huge investment into the first squads of the best clubs is not crucial for China to fulfill its plan to become a football powerhouse by 2050, said Miro Blazevic Jr., founder and owner of the first football school in Croatia.

In a recent interview, Miro Blazevic, the son of the most famous Croatian coach Miroslav Ciro Blazevic, told Xinhua, "Money is not the issue. Only this year, the Chinese clubs have spent 400 million euros (about 360 million US dollars) to absorb foreign players, which is 'crazy'. The money is enough to build 400 football schools."

"When you're building a pyramid, you have to start from the base instead of the top structure. First of all, you must teach kids how to love and play the ball," Miro Blazevic pointed out.

"First, you have to build infrastructure so that the kids have small pitches where they can develop basic skills from early age. Second, you have to build a network of coaches who must be well educated.

"This has to be the base up until the age of 12 or 13. That's the time when kids start to be more serious and decide if they want to become professional footballers.

"Meanwhile, the role of parents is crucial because those kids need their full support to fulfill their football dreams," Miro Blazevic added.

Miro Blazevic ever spent two years (2009-2011) in China when his father was the head coach of the then Chinese Super League giant Shanghai Shenhua and China's U-23 national team.

He emphasized the importance for China to find its own way to build the system instead to just copy the German, Spanish or English way.

"China must find its own way of building the base. There is a six-month gap between the seasons of the league, which is improper. Now, there is a good second division but you have to have the third division and build it in the provinces.

"If you start with schools, you have to build the school league, as well, so that the kids can compete. Competition is very important.

"China has enough talented kids but the main problem is how to lure them to play football. Sports like basketball and tennis gain popularity among Chinese kids because of the superstars like former NBA All-Star center Yao Ming and Li Na, the 2011 French Open and 2014 Australian Open women's singles champion.

"China also boasts a great number of fans but most of them support big European clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Liverpool, etc.

"It would be great to have a star in China's national team, and the shortcut is to send the talented kids to Europe.

"But it will take a minimum of 10 years to finish the process of producing a Chinese male football star," Miro Blazevic predicted. Enditem