Japan's Kaoru Mitoma, left, celebrates his teams second goal during a World Cup and AFC Asian Qualifier between Japan and China at Saitama Stadium 2002 in Saitama, north of Tokyo, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024.- AP
TOKYO/BEIJING (CNA/Agencies): As if suffering a humiliating 7-0 loss to World Cup rivals Japan wasn’t enough, China’s national football team faced scorn and backlash online from Chinese football fans and media, who took to social media to mock the state of the sport in the country.
Thursday night’s match was the top trending topic on Sina Weibo as of Friday afternoon. The hashtag: “National team vs Japan 7-0” received 530 million views, with heated comments drawing tens of thousands of likes.
“They probably thought two goals was enough but made history once again with 7-0,” remarked one user.
“Now I understand why CCTV didn’t air the match,” said another.
On Thursday, four-time AFC Asian Cup winners Japan, also Asia’s top ranked team, thrashed China 7-0 to start the third round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers with a statement win in the city of Saitama. China had squeezed into the third qualifying round thanks to a superior head-to-head record over Thailand.
The match was China’s worst defeat in the World Cup qualifying matches, only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in a friendly match in 2012.
“Japan is not only one of Asia's strongest teams but also a world class team,” said China coach Branko Ivankovic in comments published by Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
He lamented that it was “the most difficult night” in his coaching career. “It was a tough match,” Ivankovic said. “We specifically focused on defence during our pre-match preparations but conceded too many goals during the game, and some of those should not have happened.”
He Sheng, a popular sports blogger with more than a million fans on Weibo, had flown to Saitama to watch the match with his daughter. He told his followers that the truth was that the Chinese football team had played terribly.
“There was nothing to sum up about this match,” he said.
Supporters for Chinese team cheer during a World Cup and AFC Asian Qualifier between Japan and China at Saitama Stadium 2002 in Saitama, north of Tokyo, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024.- AP
TO EVEN CONSIDER THE WORLD CUP IS IMPOSSIBLE NOW
President Xi Jinping, reportedly a big football fan, once expressed his hopes to turn China into a "global football superpower".
But the sport has long grappled with corruption, which fans have long blamed for the country’s poor performances.
In 2023, Chinese politician Chen Xuyuan who served as the president of the Chinese Football Association, was given a life sentence for bribery as part of a state investigation that began in 2022 and also snared several senior figures.
China’s dream for football is fast fading. Former China football captain Fan Zhiyi shared his thoughts about the match on Weibo, saying that "to even consider the World Cup is impossible now".
"It’s better to gain experience from failure and work hard again," Fan said.
He added that it has been hard for fans to accept last night’s defeat. “When there’s a gap in ability and you lose, it’s acceptable. But the way the team lost is difficult for the fans to accept.”
An opinion piece published by Shanghai-based The Paper on Friday morning said the match in Saitma set “several unbearable records for the men’s football team, such as the largest ever defeat against Japan”.
It also pointed to problems with corruption and said Chinese football fans needed to be more active in seeking change.
China have reached the World Cup only once before, in 2002.
They are still alive in the group despite the desperate start, but Oriental Sports Daily said it was China's heaviest World Cup qualifying defeat.
"When the taste of bitterness reaches its extreme, all that is left is numbness," it said.
The Paper in Shanghai said that Chinese football had hit "rock-bottom" and called it a "disastrous defeat".
It partly pointed the finger at China's Croatian boss Branko Ivankovic, calling his "incompetence... a contributing factor to this crushing defeat".
The hammering in Saitama was hotly discussed on Chinese social media platform Weibo, with the hashtag "National team loses to Japan 0-7" viewed 480 million times as of Friday morning.
"We still don't know what the Japanese goalkeeper looks like after a 90-minute game," said one user.
Another went as far as to call for the team to be "disbanded".
"There is no point in spending the most money on this useless project."
Writing on Weibo, former national team player Fan Zhiyi -- who featured at the 2002 World Cup -- said: "When there's a gap in ability and you lose, it's acceptable.
"What's hard for football fans to accept is losing like this."
China will attempt to get their campaign back on track when they host Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
