There is an old joke about what are the two worst problems of the Chinese National football squad. Answer: their left feet and their right feet.

It is now supposedly illegal to criticize the Chinese National footbal team on the mainland. The government is apparently willing to spare no expense to become a World Cup powerhouse. Shades of the USSR in the 60's/70's - which seemed to work well (in the Olympic sports anyway). The Chinese government's goal date [no pun intended] for world football domination is 20 years.

So who knows, by 2038 we could all be watching a World Cup Final of China vs. India...with scores of white kids worldwide wearing Chinese National Football Team jerseys.

Football in China: Will China become a 'world football superpower'?

China wants to be a "world football superpower" by 2050 and aims to develop a national team capable of winning the World Cup.

President Xi Jinping, a football enthusiast, wants the country to have at least 20,000 football training centres and 70,000 pitches in place by 2020.



And former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, now coaching Chinese Super League team Shanghai SIPG, believes China can be world champions within 20 years.

But who are the people shaping the president's vision? And how are they setting about making a bold declaration become a reality?

BBC sports news correspondent Richard Conway travelled to the country to find out.

There is a video in the bbc link
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36246519

Soft power:
Italy’s Iconic Soccer Club Inter Milan Has Just Been Bought by a Chinese Retailer

Charlie Campbell / Beijing @charliecamp6ell

It's the latest top-level sporting acquisition by Chinese investors

Chinese retail giant Suning has taken a controlling stake in iconic Italian soccer club Inter Milan — the latest high-profile overseas acquisition by Chinese investors increasingly dabbling in the so-called beautiful game.

Suning, a household name in China comparable to America’s Best Buy, has secured a 69% stake in the 108-year-old club — officially called Internazionale Milano, but nicknamed I Nerazzurri (the Black and Blues) — for $307 million.

“Football is growing at an incredible rate in China and the acquisition of Inter is a strategic move,” Suning chairman Zhang Jindong, worth some $5.5 billion, told a press conference Monday afternoon at the company’s Nanjing headquarters. “Ours is an international business and our brand will soon be big in Europe too.”...
http://time.com/4357948/china-retail-gi ... -football/