Patricio: I don’t believe that 1.3 billion people can’t find football talents. Some foreign teachers come to China just for money

February 5 Not long ago, the newly promoted Chinese Super League Nantong Zhiyun Club officially announced that David
-Patricio officially became the coach of the team.
Recently, Patricio talked about the reasons for coming to China to coach and his views on Chinese football in an interview with foreign media.

—— Talking about the reasons for coming to China to teach

Patricio: Although I am 38 years old, I have 20 years of coaching experience. I can accept new challenges in Nantong. I am very grateful to the fans here.

——About signings

Patricio: Although the contract of Jose Correa, the team’s top scorer last season, has expired, we will soon have new foreign players coming, and they may also be Portuguese-speaking players.
Although the budget for the new season is not large, we still hope to pass the next season smoothly and keep the team stable.

——Talking about the Chinese Super League

Patricio: Maybe for us, the situation is very different from some other Chinese Super League giants. Some big clubs invest a lot every year and always maintain a strong competitiveness.
But the “Golden Yuan Era” of Chinese football is gone forever. At that time, 16 Chinese Super League teams spent 460 million euros to hire foreign teachers and foreign aid, which caused turmoil in the international transfer market, including Argentine star Javier Mascherano
Nuo and Lavitch, but the Hebei team they played for is currently experiencing financial difficulties, and there are other teams in financial crisis, and one team has announced its dissolution.

——Talking about the outlook for the new season

Patricio: I think after the epidemic is over, fans will return to the stadium. The next season will be the most intense in recent years. We have a lot of work to do. Football has great potential in China
, the purpose of our coming is to help develop football here.

——Talking about the sense of mission

Patricio: More head coaches with a sense of mission are needed here. In 2002, China entered the World Cup finals, but unfortunately they lost all three games and failed to score a single goal.
There are 1.3 billion people in China. I don’t believe that there are no football talents among these 1.3 billion people. What is lacking is infrastructure and enthusiasm for football.
In Portugal, there are dozens of clubs in the Lisbon area alone.
Here, Nantong, a city with a population of 7 million, has two clubs.
This is clearly not enough.
Similarly, China still needs more coaches with a sense of mission. Some foreigners come to China to coach and admit that their purpose of coming is for money.

(Liang Sheng Mochen)