【英语中国】中国足球为什么不能走向世界？

China, which rakes in medals at the Olympics, has struggled to bring a competitive national soccer team to the world stage, and Chinese soccer fans often point to corruption as one of the main reasons the nation didn't qualify for the FIFA World Cup. (In fact, 'soccer scandals' made it to Xinhua's list of top 10 crackdowns in 2009.)

But Lu Jun, head of Beijing Guoan Football Club said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the reasons are more far-reaching and complex, starting with accessibility and a lack of promotion of a soccer culture among China's youth.

There are more barriers to playing soccer than many other sports in China, Lu said. 'For soccer, you need to find more people to play, and it costs more to get a ball and find a field,' he said. China's 'lao bai xing,' or the general public, 'like to watch and talk about soccer, but can't play soccer so easily,' he said. By contrast, in the U.S. for example, soccer doesn't enjoy the same popularity as baseball, basketball or American football, but youth soccer leagues thrive, and soccer is widely played by both children and adults in many other nations as a recreational sport.

'There's no environment to allow soccer culture to flourish ... In the West, soccer has over 100 years of history,' Lu said. Meanwhile, table tennis is widely played in China as a recreational sport, and is also an event that China excels at--in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, China won four out of four gold medals in table tennis. The Chinese team also won all the silver and bronze medals in the Olympics Men's Singles event.

Lu said an environment that nurtures soccer players will improve soccer in China in the long run because it will encourage talented athletes to aspire to professional soccer, and help identify more talented players. 'The culture of playing soccer must be widely adopted, so we can find kids with talent. Then, we have to add improved training, and give them fields to play in. These are all problems,' he said. Negative news about corruption also plays a role in discouraging people from playing soccer, he added.

'It's not that Chinese people don't love soccer, they do,' Lu said. 'But there are very few opportunities [in China] for people to play. There's no culture of staying after school to play, or to get a game together at a local soccer field.'

China's more than 100 million soccer fans will be able to watch the games live on China Central Television's CNTV.cn. Nonlive games will also be broadcast on partnering websites including Sina and Tudou.

Ma Xiaoyong, Netease sports channel China soccer editor in chief, said during the World Cup, 200 million to 300 million soccer fans will watch in China. He estimated the cumulative television audience will reach 12 billion.

中国在奥运会上狂揽众多金牌，然而中国足球队却一直难以在世界上竞争，中国球迷认为腐败是中国无法打入FIFA世界杯的主要原因之一。（事实上，“足球丑闻”入选了新华社的“2009年十大打击行动”）

但北京国安足球俱乐部领队吕军在接受《华尔街日报》采访时说，中国足球未能走向世界的原因要更为深远复杂，最突出的是人们很少有机会踢球，以及没有针对中国年轻一代宣传足球文化。

吕军说，在中国，比起从事其他运动项目，踢足球的障碍更多；得有更多的人一块儿踢球，而买足球、找场地也要花费更多的钱。他说，中国老百姓喜欢看球、说球，但自己要去踢球就没那么容易了。相比之下，以美国为例，虽然足球在美国不如棒球、篮球或美式橄榄球那么流行，但青少年足球队比比皆是，而在许多其他国家，无论孩子还是大人都将足球作为一项休闲运动。

吕军说，中国没有让足球文化繁荣发展的环境……在西方，足球有100多年的历史。与此同时，乒乓球在中国是一项十分普及的休闲运动，也是中国十分擅长的一项运动──在2008年北京奥运会上，中国包揽了乒乓球项目的全部四枚金牌。奥运会乒乓球男子单打项目的银牌和铜牌也落入中国队囊中。

吕军说，从长远看，如果有一个能培养足球运动员的环境，将会提升中国足球的水平，因为这样一来就会鼓励有天赋的球员愿意从事职业足球，并能够发现更多有天赋的球员。他说，足球文化必须普及，这样才能发现有天赋的孩子。然后还必须加强训练，并让他们有地方踢球。这些都是问题。他还说，有关足球圈腐败的负面新闻也让人们不愿意从事足球运动。

吕军说，问题不在于中国人不喜欢足球，他们热爱这项运动，但在中国人们很少有机会踢球。放学后留下来踢球，或是在当地足球场组织一场球赛，我们没有这样的习惯。

中国逾一亿球迷将通过中国中央电视台网站CNTV.cn观看赛事直播。新浪(Sina)和土豆(Tudou)等合作网站也将转播非直播的赛事。

网易体育频道中国足球主编麻小勇说，世界杯期间，中国将至少有二到三亿球迷收看赛事。他估计电视观众累计将达到120亿人次。