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Thread: Shaolin Soccer for real

  1. #46
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    Maybe it will be for realz

    I've been watching China grab up soccer players. I'm not a soccer fan at all so it didn't mean much to me, but this article distills the movement from China now.

    Is China A Future Soccer Power?
    by James Chelminski 17 February 2016, 12:20 PM

    Gervinho is now one of several stars plying their trade in China. Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
    With the Chinese Super League growing, is China’s rise toward becoming a soccer power inevitable?
    The Chinese Super League (CSL) may not have been on many soccer fans’ radars prior to January 2016. However, recent transfers to the league have many people wondering what China’s future role in the sport will be. Aside from all completing moves to the CSL, the likes of Jackson Martinez, Gervinho, and Alex Teixeira have something else in common: they are in their physical prime and had recently been playing at the highest levels in Europe.
    Here are some notable players currently in or heading to the CSL:

    Player Age Transfer Fee (in millions) Former Club
    Jackson Martinez 29 $46 Atletico Madrid
    Alex Teixeira 26 $56 Shakhtar Donestk
    Gervinho 28 $20 AS Roma
    Fredy Guarín 29 $14 Internazionale
    Ramires 28 $29 Chelsea
    Ezequiel Lavezzi 30 $11.2 Paris Saint-Germain

    While it may be initially puzzling as to why so many stars would head to China, the biggest appeal of the CSL appears to be money. In fact the CSL has spent more money during this transfer window than any other league in the world. In addition to European clubs getting paid handsomely for players, the players themselves are paid at high rates.
    In February 2015, Asamoah Gyan of the CSL was ranked as the sixth-highest paid soccer player in the world. Even more astonishingly, the CSL is rumored to have offered Yaya Toure a contract worth 40 million Euros per year, a contract which would make him the third-highest paid player in the world, behind only Messi and Ronaldo!
    The ambition and drive of Chinese soccer did not arise overnight though, but rather, it has been a dream in the making.
    The Plan

    Much of China’s recent push toward growth in the soccer world can be attributed to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Described as “soccer-mad,” Xi Jinping has created a presidential cabinet that deals with soccer and has pushed a plan that has an eye-raising end goal.

    China’s ambitious plan:
    Make an impact at the FIFA Club World Cup
    Take part in the World Cup
    Host the World Cup
    Win the World Cup

    Chinese clubs have been competitive in the Asian Champions League, with Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande FC even winning two out of the last three championships. Evergrande also went on to have respectable showings at the Club World Cup. While success at the club level is great, the emphasis appears to be on improving and developing its international side.



    As part of its initiative to develop its own players, the CSL allows for only four foreign players on each club, with all goalies needing to be Chinese. The Chinese Football Association and club sides have also spent considerable resources on coaching youth. China boasts the largest professional soccer academy in the world, which also happens to be run by former coaches from the Real Madrid system.
    While young players are put under pressure, the current squad endures much scrutiny as well. Foreign coaches that helped take China to its only World Cup in 2002 have been called back to help the team’s efforts on the 2018 Road to Russia.
    With two games left to be played in the current round, China sits third in its World Cup qualifying group, behind Qatar and Hong Kong. Qatar have already ensured entrance into the last round, which leaves either Hong Kong or China a chance of sneaking in as one of the best-ranked second-place teams. This likely means that China needs to win both of its two remaining games — home against the Maldives and home against Qatar. While not easy, perhaps the coaches that took China to its only World Cup appearance can repeat their feat and spur on the first steps of Xi Jinping’s dream for Chinese soccer.
    Edited by Joe Sparacio, Jacob Greenberg.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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  2. #47
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    They want to win the World Cup

    Shaolin Soccer has become prophesy.

    China could win World Cup within 10 years, says Sven-Göran Eriksson
    Ex-England manager says huge investment starting to pay off as Xi Jinping vows to turn China into footballing superpower


    Sven-Göran Eriksson: ‘I’m at the right place at the right time. You can feel how football is growing in China.’ Photograph: Michael Dodge/Getty Images
    Tom Phillips in Beijing

    Tuesday 23 February 2016 04.50 EST Last modified on Tuesday 23 February 2016 07.08 EST

    China could lift the World Cup within a decade, former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson has claimed, as Xi Jinping pushes on with his football revolution.

    The Chinese president, lionised by Communist party spin doctors as a die-hard football fan, has vowed to turn China into a footballing superpower as well as an economic one.

    Construction work has begun on thousands of football academies since he took office in late 2012, as part of the president’s roadmap to transform his country’s on-field fortunes. Top European and South American clubs and coaches have been invited to help China revive its domestic game.

    Speaking on Tuesday ahead of an Asian Champions League (ACL) clash between his current side, Shanghai SIPG, and Melbourne Victory, Eriksson claimed those efforts were paying off, saying: “The future for China is great.”

    “I think I’m at the right place at the right time. You can always feel how football is growing in China,” he added, according to Xinhua, Beijing’s official news agency.

    “I’ve been in Italy during the 90s when every player wanted to come to Italy because the football was very good, then I was in England during the 2000s and all the players wanted to go to the Premier League because of more money and the good football,” Eriksson said.

    “Now, in 2016, it seems that every player wants to come to China for the same reasons. [All the money] will make the clubs much stronger. Maybe 10 or 15 years ahead, I’m sure China’s national team will compete well [enough] to win the World Cup.”

    China’s determination to use its munificence to boost the beautiful game has been underlined in recent weeks with a series of high-profile arrivals in the Chinese Super League, which was only founded in 2004.

    Among star players signed by Chinese clubs during the latest transfer window are £20m Brazilian Ramires from Chelsea, £31m Colombian striker Jackson Martínez and £38.4m Brazilian midfielder Alex Teixeira.

    “China is the new El Dorado,” the Brazil coach and World Cup winner Dunga said last year.

    The Chinese spending spree has prompted warnings, however, including from the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, who believes Premier League clubs should be concerned “because China looks to have the financial power to move a whole league of Europe to China”.

    Eriksson’s predictions about the future of China’s national team are even more optimistic than those of Beijing itself.

    The Chinese dragons are ranked 93rd in the world, sandwiched between Botswana and the Faroe Islands. Chinese officials have suggested the country should seek to first host, then win a World Cup. The first World Cup for which Beijing could bid would be the 2026 finals.

    Speaking last year, the president of the Chinese Football Association, Cai Zhenhua, said: “The development of Chinese soccer must be a long process. It’s not three years or five years, it’s not eight or 10 years.”

    “In the long run, we shouldn’t judge the work by the performances of national teams in a short period of time,” Cai told Xinhua.
    Gene Ching
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  3. #48
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    $430 m spent

    China’s soccer teams spent $430 million buying new players to impress president Xi Jinping


    Playing offense. (Reuters/David Moir)

    WRITTEN BY Zheping Huang
    OBSESSION
    Business of Sport 7 hours ago

    Professional soccer has become the latest target of China’s “explosive shopping sprees.” Chinese Super League clubs spent €337 million ($366 million) in the most recent January-February “transfer window,” outstripping the world’s other soccer leagues.
    The record-beating fees, paid for player transfers during the two month session that ended on midnight of Feb.26, are four times more than China’s previous record, and nearly $100 million more than the English Premier League’s €253 million blowout. They are also more than the other four major European leagues (Italy, Germany, France, and Spain) spent combined, according to Transmarkt.



    Taking the second-tier League One soccer clubs into account, China spent nearly €400 million ($434 million) in the past transfer period. Of that, nearly €290 million went to foreign players. (Twice a year, in the winter and the summer, soccer teams can bid for rival teams’ players, by offering a fee to the team to buy them out. Then, they pay a separate salary to the player.)

    Some of the world’s top soccer players have headed to China amid the gold rush, including former Atletico Madrid striker Jackson Martinez and former Chelsea midfielder Ramires. In one €50 million deal, China’s Jiangsu Suning beat Liverpool in the bidding for Brazilian striker Alex Teixeira. The 26-year-old was the most expensive of the winter transfers, but four other CSL players made the top 10.



    To put it bluntly, money is only reason China has suddenly become appealing to big-name players. Far from first-class, the Chinese Super League needs to spend more on transfer fees and salaries to lure stars. A top player who leaves Europe’s major soccer leagues for China will face far less competition on the pitch, which is bad for his career. Teixeira earns a reported €10-million annual salary in his four-year contact with Jiangsu—a huge salary for a player who has never made it to the national team in any major European championships.
    China’s property tycoons own most of China’s soccer clubs, and their deep pockets are rarely because of the love of soccer. Instead, the spending spree can be traced to top leader Xi Jinping’s publicized obsession with the sport.

    Even before he rose to power, Xi’s personal love of the game and ambition to build China into a soccer superpower was well known. Since he became the most powerful man in China, that has only intensified. In March of 2015, Xi’s central reform group made soccer a compulsory part of the national curriculum for students in elementary and secondary schools. Schools to cultivate young players will increase ten-fold to 50,000 by 2025, according to the plan. Overall, Xi’s tenure has witnessed explosive growth in China’s soccer league:



    Xi’s love of soccer may have also spurred Chinese investors to bet on foreign teams. During his October visit to the UK, Xi famously took a selfie with Argentina striker Sergio Aguero and British prime minister David Cameron during a tour of Manchester City’s stadium.

    Manchester City FC ✔ ‎@MCFC
    .@aguerosergiokun tells Mike Summerbee & Denis Law about the selfie he just took with President Xi! #CFAStateVisit pic.twitter.com/4r5flEScyu
    Follow
    Manchester City FC ✔ ‎@MCFC
    .@aguerosergiokun: "Thank you for the selfie, President Xi" 感谢能与您自拍,习主席!#CFAStateVisit pic.twitter.com/4du2zIaacY
    4:32 AM - 23 Oct 2015

    Two months later, two state-backed Chinese companies bought 13% of the shares of City’s parent company, the latest example in a series of China’s overseas soccer investments.

    Manchester City FC ✔ ‎@MCFC
    .@aguerosergiokun tells Mike Summerbee & Denis Law about the selfie he just took with President Xi! #CFAStateVisit pic.twitter.com/4r5flEScyu
    Follow
    Manchester City FC ✔ ‎@MCFC
    .@aguerosergiokun: "Thank you for the selfie, President Xi" 感谢能与您自拍,习主席!#CFAStateVisit pic.twitter.com/4du2zIaacY
    4:32 AM - 23 Oct 2015

    It is unclear how long-lasting a soccer spending spree linked to one man’s love of the game can be, but European club owners and managers are concerned. “China looks to have the financial power to move a whole league of Europe to China,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said of China’s spending spree in early February. “I don’t know how deep the desire in China is, but if there’s a very strong political desire, we should worry.”
    Some of China’s soccer investors, meanwhile, have been very open about the political push behind their deals. China’s richest man Wang Jianlin, owner of Wanda Group, has a 20% stake in Spain’s Atletico Madrid. The 56-year-old property mogul reportedly wrote in a recent book: “The government leaders care about it very much, and the Chinese administration of sports made several appeals, so I came back and am offering support for Chinese football.”
    If China does win the World Cup, I hope one of the team players is from that Tagou school.
    Gene Ching
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  4. #49
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    Speaking of the Taguo school....

    ...this is what I was waiting for here, when Shaolin Soccer becomes for real...

    AFC Cup: Casemiro Mior - Mohun Bagan are strong in attack


    South China fans

    08-Mar-2016 06:15:10
    The coach of the Shaolin Temple wants his team to ensure that Mohun Bagan does not get a free pathway into their box…

    South China are to host Mohun Bagan in their AFC Cup group G clash at the MMongkok Stadium, Hong Kong on Wednesday evening. The Caroliners will look to register their first win in the competition this season after suffering a 2-1 loss to Myanmar’s Yangon United.

    Coach Casemiro Mior opined that their tie against I-League champions, Mohun Bagan wouldn’t be an easy one as they have some of the best foreigners in Sony Norde, Katsumi Yusa and Cornell Glen in attack.

    “This will be a tough game as Mohun Bagan have very good players like Sony Norde, Katsumi Yusa and Cornell Glen. In their last AFC Cup game, they won against Maziya with 5-2. They are in a very good shape. But we have to win our home game, as we lost the first one in Myanmar,” he said.

    The Brazilian will be joined by former coach of Hong Kong’s Rangers, Jose Ricardo Ramba on the bench. Mior mentioned that his presence will be a vital addition to his think-tank and that his side must ensure that the Green and Maroon brigade aren’t allowed to get into the box seamlessly.

    “Jose Ricardo Rambo comes back to be my assistant and this will help a lot, as he can adjust the defence line-up which is very important. Mohun Bagan is strong in attack and we must stop them not to go to the box easily,” he opined.

    Leung Chun Pong stated that his side rely on counterattacks against Bagan and look to seal three points in front of their fans.

    “This will be a difficult game as the rival team is in good condition. We may play more defensively and make some good counter attacks. We are so determined to play a nice game for the local fans. We need three points in each of our home games to secure the qualification to the next round,” said the 29-year-old midfielder.
    Gene Ching
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  5. #50
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    I may have to start watching Chinese football...

    We should've seen this one coming...

    Shaolin shocker: Mass brawl erupts in Chinese FA Cup match between Jiangsu and Wuhan
    AFP May 12, 2016 15:11 IST


    Shanghai, China: Chinese football authorities launched an investigation on Thursday after a mass brawl erupted at a Cup match involving big-spending Jiangsu Suning, with one player receiving a kung fu-style flying kick.
    Violence broke out when towering Jiangsu striker Ge Wei scored in the ninth minute of extra time for a 1-0 win against amateur side Wuhan Hongxing, prompting enraged Wuhan players to attack the visiting team.
    The ruckus saw Chinese international midfielder Wu Xi receive a flying kick to the back as fists flew and combatants chased each other across the pitch.


    Jiangsu Suning's player being kicked in the back by a Wuhan Hongxing player. Image courtesy: Twitter

    Jiangsu led a world-leading transfer spending spree earlier this year but because of Chinese FA Cup rules, megabucks signings Alex Teixeira, Ramires and Jo were not playing on Wednesday.
    The incident is embarrassing for Chinese football, which has made intense efforts to clean itself up after a series of scandals and sees itself as a future global power in the sport.
    The Chinese Football Association called it a "very serious breach of discipline".
    "The Chinese FA takes this matter very seriously and have already launched a formal investigation," the body said in a statement.
    "We are firmly against any kind of violent, ill-disciplined or harmful actions on the pitch and call on all participants at football matches, including fans, players and staff, to behave in a rational manner at all times."
    English teacher Jamie McIlroy, who was at the match, told AFP: "I’ve never seen anything like it... The Wuhan bench just all ran on the pitch and started attacking the Jiangsu players."
    Jiangsu, managed by former Chelsea winger Dan Petrescu, did their best to break down a Wuhan side who often resorted to time-wasting tactics -- with the stretcher coming on 11 times in the second half alone.
    "It was totally Wuhan's fault," said McIlroy. "They kept wasting time blatantly and I think they simply couldn’t take getting beat."
    Wuhan general manager Huang Chenggao, in an interview with Sina Sports, apologised for the fight and said: "The players involved will be fired."
    With international interest at an all-time high following the capture of a series of top players, national media lamented that the incident would reflect badly on Chinese football.
    CCTV commentator Han Qiaosheng said: "I hope the police get involved. There is no way we can let violence ruin our rejuvenated game here -- the severest punishment must be meted out to the offending players at once."
    Watch the ugly incident below:
    Gene Ching
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  6. #51
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    Trending back once more

    Will this never end? Imagine if they actually succeed.

    Shaolin Soccer the movie gets real in China
    posted November 19, 2016 at 12:01 am by AFP

    China's national team is struggling: the world's most populous country ranks a lowly 84th according to FIFA and the latest setback to its fading hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia was a 0-0 home draw this week with Qatar -- which has only around 300,000 citizens.

    But China is investing hugely in football training and has vowed to have 50 million school-age players by 2020, as the ruling Communist party eyes "football superpower" status by 2050.



    The vast Tagou martial arts school, a few miles from the cradle of Chinese kung fu, the Shaolin Temple in Henan province, has 35,000 fee-paying boarders, who live in Spartan conditions and are put through a rigorous training regime.

    Some 1,500 of its students, both male and female, have signed up for its new soccer program, centered on a pristine green Astroturf football pitch where dozens of children play simultaneous five-a-side-games.

    A concrete viewing stand is under construction to accommodate future spectators, with cement mixers churning and a crane swinging girders above the children as they practiced.


    Shaolin monks show off their football skills during a demonstration game in Dengfeng, central China's Henan province. China's celebrated Shaolin Temple is training young kung fu disciples to play football in the far-off hope of reversing the flagging fortunes of the national team, state media reported. AFP

    "We are responding to the country's call," said Sun Dawei, a crew-cut former martial arts champion who took a soccer coach training course last year.

    "What we want to do is combine Shaolin martial arts with football and create an original concept," he added.

    Sun's class of 12-year-olds wore red jackets emblazoned "Shaolin" and the canvas-style shoes favored by practitioners of Chinese martial arts, known as wushu.

    They cartwheeled from one side of the pitch to another, before assembling in formation and running through tightly choreographed routines of high kicks and punches.

    "With a foundation in wushu, their bodily flexibility and force is a great help when they are playing football," said Sun. "Their jumping ability is helpful."

    Awesome movie

    The training base has drawn comparisons with the hit 2001 Hong Kong film "Shaolin Soccer," about a ragtag band of out-of-shape martial artists who defy the odds to storm to victory in a football tournament.

    The film's heroes play in yellow monks' robes, flying through the air, carrying out dazzling dives and overhead kicks of tornado-like power and winning one game 40-0.

    "The flying and those sort of awesome things I can't do," admitted 12-year-old winger Sun Linyuan.

    But he added: "In the future I will be able to do spinning kicks and bicycle kicks. Then I'll be a better footballer."

    When the soccer program opened a year ago the province's top sport official Zhang Wenshan addressed a ceremony which saw thousands of students carry out a tightly choreographed martial arts routine.

    "We have carried out deep research into using our province's advantage in traditional martial arts to develop youth football," he said.

    A provincial document vows to "build shaolin soccer into a brand", and the school has given itself five years to become one of the province's top three youth teams.

    Each child who signs up for the soccer program practices for several hours every day and the school has signed a deal with a British firm to import coaches.

    Work in progress

    Sun's group split into two teams, with captains assigning positions. One striker in a number 10 jersey backflipped his way onto the pitch.

    Despite their years of kung fu training, the students' football skills were still a work in progress, school staff admitted, with sloppy defending, shaky shooting and poor ball control all in evidence.

    "You're just running wherever the ball is! Do you think that's ok?" an exasperated Sun told his students in a half-time huddle. "Should you be marking people or not?"

    "Yes!" the students all affirmed at once.

    Long a football fan, Sun admitted there was a "vast" difference between the Beautiful Game and Shaolin kungfu.

    Still, he said, "We are the number one school for martial arts. So we have the confidence that in another area we can also be among the nation's best."
    Gene Ching
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  7. #52
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    More on Taguo and Shaolin Soccer (football)

    The key point here that the author misses is that Taguo is not a direct branch of Shaolin Temple. It's run by the Liu clan, and they are CCP members. Communism does not extol Buddhism, or religion of any sort.

    China’s investor-monks offer divine example
    By Kunal Sinha | December 22, 2016, Thursday

    IN China’s startup scene, restaurant delivery firm Ele.me is a standout success story. With 20,000 employees picking up food ordered from 300,000 restaurants, mostly over the mobile phone, it serves over 40 million users in 1,000 cities, and racks up a daily turnover of 60 million yuan (US$8.65 million).

    So even as the company recently raised capital from the likes of Tencent, Sequoia Capital, and CITIC Capital pushing its market cap beyond US$1 billion, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the angel investors in the fledgling firm was none other than a fund started by the monks at Shanghai’s Jade Buddha Temple. (Shanghai Daily, 13 December 2016).

    The firm’s founder and CEO, Zhang Xuhao started the company while still a student. But when he was about to go bankrupt in 2009, he received a 100,000 yuan sponsorship from the temple. Ele.me never looked back — and its founder calls the investment his “lucky money.”

    Devotees across the globe shower wealth on their deities, their Gods and Goddesses, in the belief that their prayers will be answered. It is extremely rare to hear of instances of monks and priests investing the money they have received from the grateful into social good, especially in young people. Granted, they feed the poor and sometimes build charitable hospitals. But venture capital for the young? It is indeed a move that merits applause.

    Out-of-the-box thinking

    For a temple to be aligned to a national, or societal interest — such as boosting entrepreneurship and employment — requires out-of-the-box thinking.

    This is something that the Tagou school of martial arts, a training ground for thousands of Shaolin monks in Dengfeng County, Henan Province, has also demonstrated. Even as China invests big in football training, vowing to have 50 million school-age players by 2020, some 1,500 students at the school (all trained in the martial arts) have taken to football. The program’s founders, all Shaolin monks, believe that the martial arts form with its emphasis on body flexibility, jumping, control and force meets essential requirements for the game. Their investment is of a different kind, but one that shows an engagement with a young community and their ideals.

    Why did these stories appeal to me so much? I’ve been reading about how much money is being collected by temples in India right now, in the aftermath of the country’s demonetization drive.

    Unable to convert their “black” money legally, many people are dropping them into collection boxes in temples, hoping for a karmic payback.

    The collection at one of Mumbai’s most popular temples, the Siddhi Vinayak Temple dedicated to Ganesha, increased from 4 million rupees (US$59,000) a week to 6 million. At the Tirumala Temple in Tirupati, arguably India’s richest temple, daily collections have similarly increased from 20-30 million rupees to almost 60 million — even as the number of devotees came down slightly.

    I wonder what the temples in India would do with so much extra cash. I would urge them to take a leaf out of the book of the monks at the Jade Buddha Temple and Shaolin Temple and invest in providing young people startup opportunities. Or invest in building the infrastructure that the country desperately needs, even if it is about doing it in the immediate vicinity of the temples. These are places that are often in need of better hygiene and sanitation, parking lots and wider streets. We need the priests and policymakers to sit down together and work out where the collaboration can have the quickest payoff.

    Such investment can really be the kind of divine intervention that could boost the fortunes of any society.



    Kunal Sinha has over 25 years of unearthing and commenting on consumer and cultural trends, and helping companies profit from them. Based in Shanghai for over a decade, he is the author of two books about creativity in business: China’s Creative Imperative, and Raw – Pervasive Creativity in Asia, and has taught at some of the world’s leading business schools.
    Gene Ching
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  8. #53
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    The Shaolin Temple of Hong Kong soccer

    Stephan Chow should make another Shaolin sports film. Shaolin Synchronized Diving? Shaolin Rhythmic Gymnastics? Shaolin Curling?

    Darkest day for Hong Kong football as ‘Shaolin Temple’ South China withdraw from Premier League
    The best-supported club in the city say they will play in the First Division and focus on youth development
    PUBLISHED : Monday, 05 June, 2017, 6:17pm
    UPDATED : Monday, 05 June, 2017, 10:06pm

    Chan Kin-wa



    Hong Kong Football Club Soccer Section Secretary Les Collett (left), Hong Kong Football Club manager Richard Ewart, Hong Kong Football Club Soccer Section General Committee Member Neil Jensen and The Executive Centre’s Gigi Li attend a press conference at Hong Kong Football Club on 8 July 2016. Photo: SCMP Pictures
    he money: Hong Kong Football Club won’t be splashing the cash with budget of just over HK$1 million
    The best-supported and most successful club in Hong Kong history said in a statement that they would compete in the First Division in the new season to focus on junior development, which they say has been lacking in local soccer over the years.
    “It has always been the target of South China to develop potential players but so far we haven’t seen this happen to help the sport in Hong Kong,” the statement said. “Since last season, we have started a 10-year programme to nurture youth players and the decision [to play in the First Division] is also in line with this aim.
    “Hopefully we can build up a strong foundation for future development so that we can one day come back to the Premier League stronger.”
    South China have been a stalwart of Hong Kong’s elite division for decades, even when they haven’t been successful. Their decision to pull out of the Premier League is one of the biggest setbacks in Hong Kong football’s recent history.



    South China, also known as the Caroliners – the road in So Kon Po on which they have their clubhouse – have won a record 41 top-flight championship over their 100 years in Hong Kong. They only played in the second tier competition during their early years of joining the league.
    Hong Kong Football Association chairman Brian Leung Hung-tak said they accepted South China’s decision at its board meeting on Monday, saying there was little they could do.
    “We have to respect their decision although we all know South China have the longest history in Hong Kong soccer and are the most popular club,” said Leung. “Their decision will certainly affect our competition but hopefully it can be minimised with other clubs such as Eastern and Kitchee getting stronger and stronger.
    “Following South China’s withdrawal, we are planning to have 10 teams in the Premier League next season – one less than this season but if the teams can keep playing well, the fans will still come.”
    Kitchee crowned Hong Kong Premier League champions after rout of Eastern
    In the previous season, Metro Galley declined to stay in the Premier League and were allowed to play in the First Division.

    [IMG]src="https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2017/06/05/4720d47e-49e0-11e7-a842-aa003dd7e62a_1320x770_205106.JPG"[/IMG]

    South China finished fourth in the just-completed season and businessman and convenor Wallace Cheung Kwong-yung decided to quit the club after spending HK$50 million without any major silverware after three seasons.
    However, Cheung and the club still have to resolve some players’ contracts. Nine players are believed to be contracted for next season with a total salary close to HK$10 million.
    Former Hong Kong team coach Tsang Wai-chung said it was hard to imagine a Hong Kong top-flight division without South China.
    “It’s just like Bayern Munich having withdrawn from the Bundesliga,” said Tsang, who had a brief stint as South China coach in 2008 but quit suddenly after their first game of the season against Citizen.
    “The club has been known as the Shaolin Temple of Hong Kong soccer and is the biggest pillar of the league. It is hard to imagine their absence.”
    Seasoned soccer administrator Peter Leung Shou-chi felt sorry after hearing the news, saying he was sadder than when his team Eastern surrendered the league title to Kitchee after losing 4-1 to their opponents.
    “I don’t think there is anything to do with the budget as there are always zealous people who want to take charge of the club as the new convenor,” said Leung, who has worked with South China in the past. “Hopefully their management can change their decision and make a return to the top flight as soon as possible.”
    This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as:
    Dark day as South China quit top flight
    Gene Ching
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  9. #54
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    Arsenal is a UK football club (soccer to us yanks)

    There are 15 pix in this album, but I'm only posting a few.

    Arsenal stars pull off kung fu moves at fan party in China - photos
    ARSENAL players showed off their kung fu moves during a fan party at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Shanghai today.
    By Jack Watts / Published 17th July 2017

    Arsenal stars pull off kung fu moves at fan party in China

    ARSENAL players showed off their kung fu moves during a fan party at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Shanghai today.


    GETTY
    Arsenal stars at fan party

    Arsenal stars at fan party Arsenal stars at fan party Arsenal stars at fan party Arsenal stars at fan party Arsenal stars at fan party Arsenal stars at fan party Arsenal stars at fan party

    The Gunners are currently taking part in a tour across China.

    They face Bayern Munich in Shanghai on Wednesday before squaring up to Chelsea in Beijing this Saturday.

    And the Arsenal players soaked up some of the local culture by donning martial arts gear and performing kung fu in front of supporters at an event this morning.

    Mesut Ozil, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alexandre Lacazette all took to the stage for the show.

    Ozil seemed to be the star attraction with the supporters - and he appeared to be enjoying himself.

    New signing Lacazette, on the other hand, didn’t look too impressed with the situation!

    Meanwhile, the likes of Laurent Koscielny, Olivier Giroud and Mohamed Elneny got to sample different types of tea at Lu Bo Lang Restaurant in Yuyuan Gardens.




    Someone needs to tell these footballers about Kung Fu pants.
    Gene Ching
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  10. #55
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    Shaolin Monk trains Cahill, Courtois, Alonso, and Caballero!

    Gene Ching
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  11. #56
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    I guess we'll get a Shaolin Soccer story every time the World Cup approaches.


    DeepTones
    Kung Fu Kids Kick Their Way to Soccer Dream
    Under a national plan to elevate Chinese soccer, a top martial arts school trains the next generation of star players.

    Yin Yijun
    Nov 14, 2017

    HENAN, Central China — In the final minutes of the game, kung fu master-turned-soccer player “Mighty Steel Leg” Sing launches into the air and, with a seemingly light kick, sends the ball flying at supersonic speed, knocking the opposing team’s goalkeeper and other players back several feet into the net.

    But the scene from 2001 Hong Kong comedy film “Shaolin Soccer” is nothing like what Chang Yirong and her classmates are learning in real life, says the Shaolin Tagou Wushu School student. “It’s too much like science fiction,” Yirong says.

    The 14-year-old is one of more than 1,400 students enrolled in the newly launched soccer program at Tagou, a prestigious private martial arts school in the rolling hills near Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, Henan province. The program, which aims to groom a new generation of soccer talents, is part of President Xi Jinping’s plan to transform China into a soccer powerhouse.

    We kung fu kids are physically stronger, and some kung fu moves are related to soccer.
    - Chang Yirong, Shaolin Tagou Wushu School soccer player
    So far, China’s only appearance at the FIFA World Cup was in 2002, when the team failed to score a single goal. The team’s lackluster performance then and in subsequent games riled Chinese soccer supporters. As a fan of the game himself, President Xi laid out a 50-point blueprint to propel Team China up the world rankings. By 2020, the country aims to build 20,000 training centers and 70,000 pitches. Also by that year, 50 million citizens — including 30 million school-age children — will play soccer regularly.

    The long-term goal is for China’s national team to win the FIFA World Cup. Currently, the men’s team ranks 57th in the world, with its highest ranking of 37th achieved in 1998. The women’s team is doing much better, currently sitting at 13th in international rankings.

    Two years ago, Tagou and the Henan provincial sports bureau jointly launched a unique soccer program that incorporates elements of kung fu to help China realize its dream of soccer greatness. “We are a martial arts school; as both martial arts and soccer are sports, they share similarities in training,” says Xie Gentong, the director of the soccer program. “The Chinese government also attaches great importance to soccer.”

    With tuition fees set at 16,000 yuan ($2,400) per year, Tagou is one of the cheaper sports schools in the area. Other specialized soccer schools, such as Evergrande Football School in southern China’s Guangdong province, cost more than three times that amount.


    Chang Yirong, 14, participates in martial arts training at Shaolin Tagou Wushu School in Dengfeng, Henan province, Oct. 18, 2017. Yin Yijun/Sixth Tone

    Tagou’s trial soccer classes intrigued Yirong, who was specializing in martial arts at the time. “Running on the grassy field makes me feel in command,” says the slim, tanned teenager, who is a forward on her team. “The more I learn about soccer, the more I love it.”

    Yirong didn’t get to play on grass until May this year, when the school’s new soccer field was completed. Before that, she and her teammates practiced in a brick courtyard on campus. The provincial sports bureau plans to provide 1.5 million yuan in annual funding for 2017 and 2018 to further develop the program, according to bureau official Ma Hong.
    The Chinese government also attaches great importance to soccer.
    - Xie Gentong, Shaolin Tagou Wushu School soccer program director
    However, Xie believes there are many challenges ahead. “Our biggest problem is the lack of [professional soccer] coaches,” he says. Tagou has 58 coaches in total, each in charge of around 20 students. However, most of them only have experience teaching martial arts, not soccer. Some instructors have participated in soccer coach training run by the provincial soccer association, but even with the training, they can only teach basic skills and lack the expertise to coach the school’s top teams. Tagou has only six experienced soccer coaches, three of whom are from Barcelona, Spain, and have a background in training young players. They are expecting a fourth coach from Barcelona this month.

    A kung fu protégé-turned-coach, Wen Lihua has witnessed the program’s development from the beginning. The 30-year-old took a teaching position at the school after a brief career as a professional practitioner of sanda, a form of traditional Chinese freestyle combat.

    Although not a soccer fan, Wen saw great potential in what the school was doing. “This is a shortcut to developing soccer in Henan and [all of] China,” he says. He believes the kids in the program, who have already endured rigorous martial arts training, have what it takes to learn another sport: a strong physique and a tough mind.


    Chang Yirong (center, in blue) plays soccer at Shaolin Tagou Wushu School in Dengfeng, Henan province, Oct. 18, 2017. Yin Yijun/Sixth Tone

    The soccer program currently enrolls students aged 7 to 14 and divides players into two groups. Those 10 and older are put into “key classes,” which train six days a week, whereas the younger students only practice soccer twice a week.

    Yirong is in the former category and plays on the school’s best team. She gets up at 5:30 every morning, spends half the day in mandatory academic classes — such as languages and math — and devotes the rest of her time to rigorous kung fu and soccer training.
    Soccer is just a hobby in the minds of the older generation.
    - Wen Lihua, martial artist and soccer coach
    Tagou is run like a military school. The more than 30,000 students must ask for permission to leave campus, and the year-round curriculum means that Yirong can only visit her family — who live an hour and a half away from the school by car — once a year during the monthlong Chinese New Year break. Even on visits home, she can barely put down her soccer ball and continues to practice the skills she has picked up at school.

    Though she isn’t learning the gravity-defying Shaolin Kung Fu moves from the movie, Yirong says she believes kung fu can give her and her teammates an advantage. “We kung fu kids are physically stronger,” she says while performing a leg-sweeping technique with ease, “and some kung fu moves are related to soccer.”

    In Yirong’s mind, the secret to success is not kung fu or innate talent in any sport, but rather hard work. She admires Argentine athlete Lionel Messi more than Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo for this very reason: “Ronaldo was born with talent,” Yirong says, “but Messi is different because he actually worked hard to get to where he is today.”
    continued next post
    Gene Ching
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  12. #57
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    Continued from previous post


    Chang Yirong (front) and her soccer teammates listen to instructions from their coach at Shaolin Tagou Wushu School in Dengfeng, Henan province, Oct. 18, 2017. Yin Yijun/Sixth Tone

    Yirong dreams of becoming a star player like Messi, but her path hasn’t been smooth thus far. She still remembers her first match last year: The team had been training together for only a few months when they played against a local public school and lost 0-9. “We all burst into tears as we left the field,” she says. But with guidance from professional coaches and intense training in the months since, Yirong says a shutout like that will never happen again.

    Not everyone involved in the program is enthusiastic about mixing kung fu and soccer. “It's better if they only play soccer all the time,” says Spanish coach Mateu Muñoz Servera, the head coach of Yirong’s under-14 women’s team, “but I think kung fu is another tool to increase [soccer ability]. For example, they have more flexibility.”

    Despite skepticism about the “bold trial” — as the director of the provincial sports bureau called it — Yirong’s parents are supportive of what she is doing, with some reservations. “To be honest, I don’t want my daughter to suffer [from strenuous training],” says Yirong’s mother, 44-year-old Chang Xueli, “but there is no use forcing her to do things she doesn’t like.” Chang says she recalls visiting Tagou on several occasions and finding her daughter injured, only to have Yirong assure her family that she was fine out of fear that they might withdraw her from the school.


    Left: Swords for martial arts training lie on the grass at Shaolin Tagou Wushu School in Dengfeng, Henan province, Oct. 19, 2017. Yin Yijun/Sixth Tone; right: a student poses for a photo at Shaolin Tagou Wushu School, Oct. 16, 2016. Courtesy of Shaolin Tagou Wushu School

    Some parents of Tagou students are far less supportive of the school’s soccer offerings. Coach Wen says he has encountered many families who would only ever consider enrolling their children in the martial arts program. “Soccer is just a hobby in the minds of the older generation,” he says. “They think martial arts is a legitimate skill, a normal career path.”

    Yirong’s mother also worries about her daughter’s future in soccer. Compared to the 16 men’s teams in the Chinese Super League, there are only eight teams in the Chinese Women’s Super League. To improve Yirong’s career prospects, her mother considered transferring her to Evergrande but was dissuaded by the high tuition fees, set at 55,000 yuan per year.

    Despite receiving substantial funding and support from the government, the national teams are far from achieving global dominance in soccer. China’s women’s team is just a shadow of its 1999 self, when the team played the United States in the FIFA Women’s World Cup final. In recent years, the team has seen few victories in international tournaments.

    With the future of soccer in China uncertain, Chang is anxious about where her daughter will end up. “Chinese soccer is not doing well right now,” she often tells Yirong.

    But her daughter always responds, “As I improve, Chinese soccer will also get better.”

    Editor: Doris Wang.

    (Header image: Students practice martial arts at Shaolin Tagou Wushu School in Dengfeng, Henan province, Oct. 19, 2017. Yin Yijun/Sixth Tone)
    Shaolin Soccer & Tagou
    Gene Ching
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  13. #58
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    Funny Soccer

    He's still trying to milk Shaolin Soccer? srsly? That came out nearly a decade and a half ago.


    Lam Chi Chung lost money with "Funny Soccer"

    Heidi Hsia
    From Cinema Online Exclusively for Yahoo Newsroom 12 January 2018



    13 Jan – Hong Kong actor-turned-director Lam Chi Chung recently admitted that his big directorial effort "Funny Score" was a disaster at the box office and a disaster for him and his investor, financially.

    As reported on Oriental Daily, the actor, known to many as Stephen Chow's sidekick in "Shaolin Soccer" and "Kung Fu Hustle", shared that a lot of bad things happened throughout the movie's production - from poor promotions to the getting conned by a supposed intermediary for international distribution.

    "The movie was poorly promoted in mainland China and didn't get a lot of shows when it was released. After only a few days, its run was abruptly ended and was regarded as a box office bomb," he said.

    He also stated that the movie was supposed to get an international release, but that the intermediary turned out to be a conman who disappeared with the money.

    Lam said that he and his investor ended up losing over HKD 20 million.

    The actor said that it disappointed him vehemently as it was a pet project that started ten years ago.

    "I really liked the script and spent a year preparing it for production. The actors also gave the project their all. Benny Chan didn't take a cent in order to support the project," he said.

    Lam said that he previously thought about sharing some of the movie's profit with Benny, but ended up losing his own money instead.

    "I am very sorry for that," he added.

    thread: Shaolin Soccer

    thread: Shaolin Soccer for real
    Gene Ching
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  14. #59
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    Tagou teaches ice hockey & surfing too?

    Does Tagou have an ice rink now? And a wave machine? Shaolin is land-locked and the river isn't big enough to surf.

    Shaolin martial arts school promotes soccer on campus
    By Shan Jie in Dengfeng Source:Global Times Published: 2019/7/28 17:53:39

    ○ A Shaolin martial arts boarding school is developing youth soccer training

    ○ Players with a martial arts background have some advantages, say their coaches

    ○ The school is also training talent for ice hockey, skating and surfing


    Wan Yi (center) celebrates victory with teammates Zhou Jiangyin and goalkeeper Zhou Aoxiang. Photo: Li Hao/GT

    Wan Yi is upside down.

    The mid-July sun burns. He begins to shake, breathing heavily. Sweat drops from his face to the ground. The azure soccer jersey soaks into a deeper blue. His face turns beetroot.

    A few minutes earlier, Wan and his 10-year-old teammates ran off the artificial grass field, having just won their match. Wan decided to celebrate in his own unique way, ball between feet.

    It's his superpower. He acquired it from five years of martial arts training.

    Five minutes over, Wan puts his legs down and stands up again.

    "Only I can do this!" Wan says, picks up his ball and races to join his teammates on the stand.

    About 200 schoolmates on the stand cheer the players in an extremely organized way.


    Tagou school players cheer from the stand. Photo: Li Hao/GT

    Behind them all, another intense match is occurring between older boys.

    Wan, 10, is a student at the Tagou martial arts school in Dengfeng, a county-level city administered by Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan Province.

    All the students take martial arts training in the school.

    When this relatively remote school with its deep links to the mythological Shaolin Temple unveiled its youth soccer training project in 2015, massive online attention ensued.

    In the popular imagination, kung fu soccer is using a superpower - 10 bald superheroes in plain robes flying around the pitch and volleying the ball from a goalkeeper who apparently has eight arms…



    Internet users yearned for Tagou's secret kung fu skills to rescue China from centuries of soccer humiliation.

    The 2001 movie Shaolin Soccer would appear more than a lightweight comedy movie for many online soccer aficionados.

    Or as Wan puts it, "Soccer was invented in China. People will laugh at China if we do not play well."

    A midfielder in one of the school's under-11 teams, Wan's goal is to play for China's national team and in the FIFA World Cup.

    China's men's team played once in the World Cup, in 2002, and went home without a single goal from three group matches.

    The government in 2015 stepped up efforts to promote soccer on campuses across the country.

    Tagou started youth soccer training in December 2015. Wan was one of the earliest to join the program when teams were formed in 2016 by selecting children with perceived soccer talent.

    Tagou, the only official Shaolin soccer youth training base under the sports bureau of Henan Province, has 1,519 young boys and girls aged 4 to 15, 23 teams based on different ages and capabilities.


    Girls in Henan Tagou shirts prepare for kickoff at Tagou martial arts school in Dengfeng, Central China's Henan Province. Photo: Li Hao/GT

    "Children with a martial arts background are quicker, more flexible and determined," Liu Songpu, who is in charge of the soccer department in Tagou school, tells the Global Times.

    In four years, China has made notable progress in promoting soccer in schools through enhanced training, more games and upgraded facilities, Wang Dengfeng, a senior official at the Ministry of Education, said on July 23 in Beijing, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

    China has named 24,126 primary and middle schools across the country as specialist soccer schools to spearhead youth soccer development, Xinhua reported.

    Mysterious team

    Zhu Xinggang scores in the U12-13 match of the Second Youth Games of China in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

    Right fist meeting left palm, Zhu bows solemnly and salutes the opposition goalkeeper.

    But the kung fu bow backfires as the referee warns Zhu, believing the gesture by the Tagou school right winger was intended to humiliate his opponent.

    "They don't understand," Coach Liu says. "The gesture is actually showing respect in martial arts."

    This is the first time Tagou's soccer team played at a national level and crowds follow the mysterious team with Shaolin in its name.

    At the end of the day, the team from Shaolin finish a respectable, if unmagical, fourth.

    "People thought that soccer at the Shaolin kung fu school must be something mysterious," Liu says. "But we are just the same."


    A Tagou player demonstrates the "controversial" kung fu bow at his dormitory. Photo: Li Hao/GT

    The students take regular compulsory education courses including Chinese, math, English and science. They have two hours' soccer training daily.

    Every day all the players at Tagou have 1.5 hours' training in martial arts.

    "They have learned the Da Hong Fist, Xiao Hong Fist, Shao Lin Fist and Qi Xing Fist," Zhao Yaodi, a coach to 20 young players under 7, tells the Global Times.

    Zhao, 20, graduated from Tagou four years ago. He stayed at the school as a soccer coach after some training.

    Most of the soccer coaches at the school have a martial arts background.

    In three years, the number of soccer students has grown from 900 to 1,519.

    As one of the most famous martial arts schools in Dengfeng, Tagou school has a deep connection with the Shaolin Temple.


    Tagou students practice martial arts after lunch. Photo: Li Hao/GT

    The school was built in 1978 by Liu Baoshan, who is from a martial arts family in the village near the temple.

    The boarding school today has its original campus, which is only 2 kilometers from the Shaolin Temple.

    In total the school has more than 35,000 students and teachers on three campuses, reads its official website.
    continued next post
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    Continued from previous post

    First match

    July 16 was the first match day for the school's annual sports meeting.

    In the afternoon, the youngest players experience their first-ever formal game.

    Coach Zhao's team plays a five-a-side against a girls' team the same age coached by Ma Yu, 18 years old.


    Girls team coach Ma Yu directs her players. Photo: Li Hao/GT

    The match is strictly by the rules. The girls must remove their flower headbands and tooth amulets. The players have full kit including shin guards and captain's armband.

    At kickoff, the girls appear unready.

    Ma finds she must constantly shout instructions at her players, who appear a little overwhelmed by the occasion.

    Zhao's team are the more aggressive and experienced. They even appear to use some simple tactics. It's a mismatch.

    The girls quickly crumble to lose 10-0.

    "I don't mind we lost," Ma tells the Global Times. "But they have to maintain a more focused attitude during the game."


    A boy scores from coach Zhao Yaodi's team. Photo: Li Hao/GT

    The Henan provincial sport bureau says women's soccer development is a key project and it is also encouraged at the school.

    Zhao and Ma's players take care of themselves at boarding school.

    Zhao's 20 players have three aunties who look after them. Before the children arrive from canteen after lunch, the three are making beds, turning on the air conditioning and bringing them water in red plastic buckets.

    When the players get back, they wash, change clothes and nap in their small wooden beds.


    A dormitory assistant helps a boy wash his face. Photo: Li Hao/GT

    Step by step

    The school has 39 canteens but only three soccer pitches.

    Players compete for space with thousands of other schoolmates in the crowded campus.

    Coach Liu Songpu once visited the soccer school under Luneng Taishan Football Club in East China's Shandong Province. Luneng has 26 pitches for hundreds of players.

    "I am jealous," he says.

    A new campus with 10 soccer pitches is being built, says Zhao.

    There's no denying the coaches also need to improve.

    g
    Zhou Jiangyin (left) in match action. Photo: Li Hao/GT

    "It's OK for me to teach basic skills, but I lack knowledge of tactics," Zhao admits.

    The school has six Portuguese coaches sent by Henan sport bureau through the youth training promotion project. They have different duties - management, fitness, tactics and techniques.

    "I often communicate with the foreign coaches to learn from them," Zhao says.

    When the Global Times reporter visited the school, the Portuguese coaches had gone back to their country for visas.

    Talent treasure trove

    Tagou is also tasked by the General Administration of Sports to find athletes for the summer and winter Olympics.

    According to Henan government's website in June 2018, 143 athletes left Tagou to join national training teams in sports including freestyle skiing, snowboarding and surfing.

    An ice hockey team is also to be found in Tagou.

    They practice with roller skates on the floor.

    "These with martial arts background can make achievements in a very short time," Feng Weifeng, who is in charge of publicity for the school, tells the Global Times. "They have great balance and flexibility."

    "We aim at the Olympics," he says.



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