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This is not specific to China but many larger countries who are good at other sports but they don't do well at soccer. Australia is very good at Rugby, Cricket

This is not specific to China but many larger countries who are good at other sports but they don't do well at soccer. Australia is very good at Rugby, Cricket but their soccer team is average and they make it to world cups only because of limited competition in their confederation (OFC). Domestic soccer leagues are just picking up in China. They mostly comprise to Chinese players and/or end up with retirees of European clubs (Retired Andre Iniesta of Barcelona/Spain moving to some club in China).

deleted 8y ago
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aaavl2821 8y ago
That's similar to the US. I think a lot of it just comes down to the number of kids that grow up playing a sport i.e. the talent pool. In the US lots of kids try playing soccer but most focus more on baseball / basketball / football / hockey. Whereas in countries where soccer is the main sport the talent pool is larger and you have tons of talented kids who've been playing for two decades
- moorhosj 8y ago
  Yet, the US dominates in women’s soccer. Maybe there are fewer options for them to play other sports (football specifically)?
  - zhdc1 8y ago
    The US actually has a fairly good men's national team. As weak as CONCACAF is, there's a reason why they've qualified for seven of the last eight World Cups - and why their tie with Trinidad and Tobago was so surprising.
    - moorhosj 8y ago
      Currently 25th in FIFA rankings (3rd in CONCACAF). Is there any other major men's sport where the US ranks outside the top 20 (maybe cricket)? - 15th in rugby https://www.worldrugby.org/rankings/mru?lang=en https://www.worldrugby.org/rankings/mru?lang=en - 6th in tennis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITF_Rankings#Men https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITF_Rankings#Men - 4th in hockey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IIHF_World_Ranking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IIHF_World_Ranking - 2nd in volleyball https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIVB_World_Rankings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIVB_World_Rankings
      - pbhjpbhj 8y ago
        What we in the UK call hockey (field hockey) - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIH_World_Rankings https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIH_World_Rankings - USA women 7th, USA men not listed.
        moorhosj 8y ago
        You are correct. I see them at 26th here - http://www.fih.ch/rankings/outdoor/ http://www.fih.ch/rankings/outdoor/ Another one would be handball, ranked 38th - http://www.ihf.info/en-us/thegame/rankingtable.aspx?month=7&year=2010&teamCatID=2 http://www.ihf.info/en-us/thegame/rankingtable.aspx?month=7&...
        pbhjpbhj 8y ago
        Where is handball a major sport; I don't think I've ever seen it played in a match.
  - ggg9990 8y ago
    The number of women playing sports seriously is much higher in the US than in most other countries due to Title IX and cultural reasons.
  - dragandj 8y ago
    Another reason might be that in Europe soccer is considered a rather masculine sport. Very few girls even consider playing it. Girls usually play volleyball, handball, etc. but a girl that kicks the ball with a foot would be strangely looked at here. In the US, I hear, soccer is reasonably popular as a female sport, so the talenf pool is larger.
    - bluedino 8y ago
      Soccer also doesn’t compete with football or basketball for girls like it does with boys
LargeWu 8y ago
Nitpick: Australia is in the Asian confederation, not Oceana. Still, Asia as a whole is a weak confederation.
- smcl 8y ago
  That's not even a minor nitpick - the AFC is much more competitive. Not quite the level of UEFA or CONMEBOL but the latter stages have plenty of potential banana skins and qualification is by no means guaranteed. Indeed Australia were narrowly edged by France a few days back and today drew with Denmark - both well regarded UEFA nations. They're genuinely a decent side.
- aekotra 8y ago
  Yeah, but they've only been there for 12 years. OFC before then.
chrxr 8y ago
Iniesta moved to Japan. Also, Australia has 5200% less people than China, so not a great comparison. A better comparison would have been India, who have a comparable population but a heavy focus on cricket. https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/23/football/barcelona-iniesta-japan-intl/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/23/football/barcelona-iniesta-ja...

deleted 8y ago

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aaavl2821 8y ago

That's similar to the US. I think a lot of it just comes down to the number of kids that grow up playing a sport i.e. the talent pool. In the US lots of kids try playing soccer but most focus more on baseball / basketball / football / hockey. Whereas in countries where soccer is the main sport the talent pool is larger and you have tons of talented kids who've been playing for two decades

moorhosj 8y ago
Yet, the US dominates in women’s soccer. Maybe there are fewer options for them to play other sports (football specifically)?
- zhdc1 8y ago
  The US actually has a fairly good men's national team. As weak as CONCACAF is, there's a reason why they've qualified for seven of the last eight World Cups - and why their tie with Trinidad and Tobago was so surprising.
  - moorhosj 8y ago
    Currently 25th in FIFA rankings (3rd in CONCACAF). Is there any other major men's sport where the US ranks outside the top 20 (maybe cricket)? - 15th in rugby https://www.worldrugby.org/rankings/mru?lang=en https://www.worldrugby.org/rankings/mru?lang=en - 6th in tennis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITF_Rankings#Men https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITF_Rankings#Men - 4th in hockey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IIHF_World_Ranking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IIHF_World_Ranking - 2nd in volleyball https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIVB_World_Rankings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIVB_World_Rankings
    - pbhjpbhj 8y ago
      What we in the UK call hockey (field hockey) - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIH_World_Rankings https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIH_World_Rankings - USA women 7th, USA men not listed.
      - moorhosj 8y ago
        You are correct. I see them at 26th here - http://www.fih.ch/rankings/outdoor/ http://www.fih.ch/rankings/outdoor/ Another one would be handball, ranked 38th - http://www.ihf.info/en-us/thegame/rankingtable.aspx?month=7&year=2010&teamCatID=2 http://www.ihf.info/en-us/thegame/rankingtable.aspx?month=7&...
        pbhjpbhj 8y ago
        Where is handball a major sport; I don't think I've ever seen it played in a match.
- ggg9990 8y ago
  The number of women playing sports seriously is much higher in the US than in most other countries due to Title IX and cultural reasons.
- dragandj 8y ago
  Another reason might be that in Europe soccer is considered a rather masculine sport. Very few girls even consider playing it. Girls usually play volleyball, handball, etc. but a girl that kicks the ball with a foot would be strangely looked at here. In the US, I hear, soccer is reasonably popular as a female sport, so the talenf pool is larger.
  - bluedino 8y ago
    Soccer also doesn’t compete with football or basketball for girls like it does with boys

LargeWu 8y ago

Nitpick: Australia is in the Asian confederation, not Oceana. Still, Asia as a whole is a weak confederation.

smcl 8y ago
That's not even a minor nitpick - the AFC is much more competitive. Not quite the level of UEFA or CONMEBOL but the latter stages have plenty of potential banana skins and qualification is by no means guaranteed. Indeed Australia were narrowly edged by France a few days back and today drew with Denmark - both well regarded UEFA nations. They're genuinely a decent side.
aekotra 8y ago
Yeah, but they've only been there for 12 years. OFC before then.

chrxr 8y ago

Iniesta moved to Japan. Also, Australia has 5200% less people than China, so not a great comparison. A better comparison would have been India, who have a comparable population but a heavy focus on cricket. https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/23/football/barcelona-iniesta-japan-intl/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/23/football/barcelona-iniesta-ja...