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Go Home "we Play Soccer Like The Brazilians Play...

THE PLANK AUGUST 15, 2008

"we Play Soccer Like The Brazilians Play Ping-pong"

BY JOSH PATASHNIK

 

It may be an Asian century that lies ahead of us, but we're not quite there yet. Western declinists and China alarmists, take note: Its soccer team is still abysmal. How can an increasingly prosperous nation of 1.3 billion be so bad at its favorite sport? Well, it turns out that social norms make a difference:

Many Chinese sports analysts and scholars point to endemic corruption within the association as one cause of the sport’s ills. The association started the current league system in 1994, and soccer became the first sport to achieve commercial success in China, with sponsors pouring in millions of dollars.

Xu Guoqi, a professor of East Asian history at Kalamazoo College and the author of a new book on China and the Olympics, said Chinese soccer would improve only after the rule of law is established in China. ... “Without rule of law, corruption will get involved, and nobody is responsible to anyone,” said Xu, who wrote an op-ed article in The Washington Post last month lamenting the state of Chinese soccer. “If Chinese continue to be obsessed with soccer, they’ll definitely demand something dramatic, something political or involving rule of law. It will start with sports, and then it will move onto something bigger.”

Granted, it's hard to explain how this theory can be reconciled with Italy's World Cup triumph, but the point remains that it'll be a long time before China rivals the West on the soccer front. (And India...well, let's not even start.)

On an unrelated note, today is my last day at TNR, so I wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone who's taken the time to read and comment on my posts over the past year. It's been a lot of fun, and I still hope to contribute occasionally, but the regular blogging will sadly be coming to an end.

--Josh Patashnik

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16 comments

Two things:

1) Where are you going?

 2)  It's rather hilarious to look at the FIFA rankings, such as they are, and see that India and Pakistan, combined 1.5 billion people, lags behind such giants as Luxembourg, Malta, Bermuda, Liechtenstein, Fiji, Grenada, and the Dutch Antilles.  Especially when I point this out to my Pakistani friend.

- Crock1701

August 15, 2008 at 5:05pm

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Josh: Say it ain't so! Where are you headed? In any case, good luck to you and yours.

- propositionjoe

August 15, 2008 at 5:05pm

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Thanks for all of your in-depth, wonky posts and occasional forays into sports.  All the best, Josh.

- adaglas

August 15, 2008 at 5:06pm

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Best wishes for continued success.

China's women soccer has been very successful. But hey, women only make up 50% of the world so why bother counting them.

And as to why chinese men suck, is it genetics, equipment, training, the little Emperor syndrome, corruption, in the end who cares? It is not corruption though. I lived nearby where the 2000 Chinese world cup team practiced with that famous slavic coach. I watched some of their practices, man were they a bunch of stiffs.

- blackton

August 15, 2008 at 5:06pm

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Appreciated your wit and insight this year, Josh.  Best of luck as you move forward.

- Youngbooth

August 15, 2008 at 5:15pm

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Crap, Josh, you're leaving?

Writing somewhere else?

Nothing really infuriates me about TNR except when a writer leaves. Damn.

I wish I could shake your hand.

- williamyard

August 15, 2008 at 5:17pm

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Yeah, best of luck Josh.  Let us know where you'll be working.  Your stuff will be missed around here.

- boneill

August 15, 2008 at 5:17pm

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I've enjoyed your posts, Josh, and am sorry to hear you're leaving. I hope you'll still be writing, wherever you move to? Good luck.

- hemlock41

August 15, 2008 at 5:26pm

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Thanks for everything Josh. You could always be counted on for top-notch sports analysis, as well as world and political events. Go far and do well and all that.

- rozenson

August 15, 2008 at 5:41pm

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I'm with the others Josh, thanks for insight and effort.  Let us know what you're up to when you get there.

Good luck in your next position.

- jet

August 15, 2008 at 6:43pm

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Josh, thanks for all the great posts.  Best of luck, wherever you are going.....

- pdx1

August 15, 2008 at 9:42pm

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Dear all, thanks for your kind words.  I'm heading home to California to start law school at Stanford (yes, yes, insert lawyer joke here), under the general theory that the closer one lives to williamyard, the better.

- Josh Patashnik

August 15, 2008 at 11:22pm

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Josh,

Let me add my voice to the chorus - we'll miss your writing here at TNR.  Let us know where you're going, eh?  Best wishes,

Neil

- purcellneil

August 16, 2008 at 8:02am

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Ah - I see I missed the last comment.  Good luck at Stanford!

- purcellneil

August 16, 2008 at 8:03am

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I'll really miss your contributions here.  Best of luck at Stanford.  

- AlanSP

August 16, 2008 at 9:15am

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Best of luck in law school, sir, and thanks for your insightful and enjoyable commentary.

- austinexpat

August 18, 2008 at 3:19pm

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