The Chinese, like every other country (except the USA) love a bit of football. It is the world's game and the Chinese are not immune to the star power of overseas talent like David Beckham, who is the new ambassador of Chinese football. The CFA (Chinese Football Association) recruited him to help the tarnished image of Chinese football after a series of match fixing scandals. But a bit of international superstar window dressing isn't really going to solve the problem of Chinese football when the middle kingdom tries to compete internationally. China lost every game in its first appearance in the World Cup in 2002 and has yet to make another appearance.

China's Asian neighbors like Japan and Korea have excelled in the sport, a feat that must look miraculous to some, considering those countries populations are much smaller than China's. Obviously, competing on the world stage is not a quantity beats quality type of game. Why the deeper football talent pools abroad? I'll give you two guesses as to the underlying root of the mediocrity of Chinese footballers. Any takers? That's right, the one child policy coupled with the ever present specter of the Gaokao, or college entrance exam.

Most Chinese parents see sports as a distraction. Anything that takes away from their only child's potential study time is a negative influence. We could discuss the merits of becoming a well rounded person through sport, or the social skills developed in team competition, but chances are the response would be something to the effect of, ‘Well there's just so much pressure to get a good score!' or ‘My kid won't be the next Beckham, so it's a waste of time' or my favorite, ‘This is China, foreigners just don't understand'. Chances are you've been in China long enough to have had these conversations more than once. Not to be cynical, but defending the merits of an education system that is aimed at holistic development, rather than simple test scores is an argument you won't win with a Chinese parent.

In reality it's not really all their fault, I say this because the test focused system is really the culprit, and you would be hard pressed to find parents who think it is a good system. In fact most people look at it as a somewhat necessary evil that isn't going away any time soon. Regardless of the educational system, only children in any country may have a slightly harder time in teamwork environments, like say a football team. Add to this the ‘little emperors' being brought up today and you are looking at a football talent pool that is 1.3 billion wide but only about 3 inches deep. You can't take a kid who was the center of the family's world and then expect him to be a good team player as an adult. Chinese national teams also suffer from a lower level of talent because they are expected to go from study machine to soccer aficionado at age 20. All the coaching and coaching salaries in the world can't replace a lifetime of being brought up in the sport. Take for example coach Marcello Lippi, of Italian World Cup fame, is reported to have a 37million USD contract for 2.5 years with CSL club Guangzhou Evergrande. Good for him. But until the talent pool on the mainland is fostered during childhood, Chinese football will remain a spectator sport.

There are millions of Chinese football fans and so many Chinese are patriotic, they would love to be able to root for the home team, but there's rooting for the underdog and then there's embarrassing yourself. Losing face on the pitch is no fun, but until sport is seen as something worthwhile in the development of Chinese children, things will remain the status quo.

Sorry Chinese football fans there's just no two ways about it.