Shao: China's talents must set sights on Europe

Former Bundesliga star Shao Jiayi has called on more Chinese talents to ply their trade in Europe to help the country end its long wait for a return to the FIFA World Cup.

Shao starred in the only Chinese men's team to reach the finals, back in 2002, and acknowledges that China's current crop, coached by his former national teammate Li Tie, have their work cut out to reach Qatar 2022.

"The final qualifying round is understandably tough," Shao said of Team China's ongoing qualifying campaign during a recent teleconference call.

"We played a couple of bad games in the opening stretch. But overall, with the contribution from our naturalized players, we still have what it takes, in terms of spirit and technique, to at least be competitive on this stage," said the 41-year-old Beijinger.

Shao, though, believes having more Chinese playing overseas could be the key to ending the nation's World Cup heartache.

"We need to create a tolerant environment for more young players to dare to challenge themselves overseas and then have the support they need to improve their game in the more competitive European leagues," he said.

"Once we have the number and quality of players in Europe as we did back in my day, it will be a great help for our national team to perform much better internationally."

Defeats to Australia, Japan and Saudi Arabia mean China faces an uphill task to emerge from the final phase of Asian zone qualifying for Qatar 2022. Its sole victory in the six-team Group B was a nervy 3-2 triumph over Vietnam, which has left China in fifth position.

The top two from each group will qualify automatically for next year's finals, with the two third-placed squads to face each other in a two-legged playoff. The winner of that tie will take on an opponent from Europe or South America in an intercontinental playoff to decide the final qualification spot.

Next up for China are two crucial "home" games-against Oman on Nov 11 and Australia five days later. Those matches will be played behind closed doors in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates, due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Shao, who is the team leader of China's under-18 national squad, remains hopeful Li's men can overcome the loss of home advantage.

"I still have faith in coach Li and his team to produce better performances in the upcoming rounds," said Shao, an attacking midfielder who retired in 2015.

Citing his experience of the 2002 World Cup, Shao reckons an appearance in the finals would transform the careers of Team China's stars.

"A lot of players of my generation received offers from Europe after we played in the 2002 World Cup finals," said Shao, who began an eight-year stint in Germany when he signed for 1860 Munich in 2003.

"Scouts from advanced soccer nations in Europe all value players' international performances at the World Cup heavily in the transfer market. If you represent your country at the World Cup, you will have a better chance of attracting attention from top European leagues."

A wily playmaker with an eye for goal in his prime, Shao made a combined 168 appearances in the topflight Bundesliga and the second tier, also representing Energie Cottbus and Duisburg. He found the net 24 times to leave an indelible mark on the German leagues.

At the same time, Shao's national teammates Sun Jihai, Li Tie and Li Weifeng all enjoyed productive stints in England.

However, the stagnant development of China's youth training system over the past decade-blamed in part on excessive spending on imported talents-has failed to produce another generation of homegrown players to the caliber of Shao and his former teammates.

An increasing number of players from South Korea and Japan, meanwhile, have been making their mark in Europe, most notably Tottenham Hotspur attacker Son Heung-min.

China's sole representative in the major European leagues is Spain-based striker Wu Lei, who is struggling for game time with La Liga's Espanyol.

Wu netted a crucial late winner against Vietnam last month, but has yet to find the net for Espanyol this season, starting only three of the club's 12 league games so far.

That has led to calls for Wu to reconsider his future in Spain, but Shao has urged the 29-year-old to keep working hard and called for more patience from fans and media.

"It takes time to settle into a foreign culture, get used to the more demanding training, earn trust with consistent performances and stay healthy at the same time," he said.