On a hot, humid Thursday night in Saitama, China’s national football team hit its lowest ebb.
With a minute left on the clock and trailing Japan 6-0, Chinese defenders were likely wishing for the sweet relief of the final whistle.
But Japan’s Takefusa Kubo was not feeling charitable. After watching his team-mates toy with their opponents for a while, he received a pass on the edge of the Chinese box and rammed home Japan’s seventh goal.
The ball rocketed into the roof of the net, and the man known as “Japanese Messi” condemned China to their worst-ever defeat in a World Cup qualifier.
The 7-0 spanking in September – described as “rock-bottom” by a Shanghai-based newspaper – followed a year-long line of humiliating defeats which included losses to Oman, Uzbekistan and Hong Kong.
But worse was to come.
A week later dozens of players, coaches and administrators were arrested for gambling, match-fixing and bribery as part of a two-year probe into corruption in the domestic game.
And the defeats have continued. On Tuesday, Australia beat China 2-0 in Hangzhou – cementing them at the bottom of their World Cup qualifying group.
It wasn’t long ago that China had dreamed of becoming a footballing superpower.
The world’s largest population, a thriving economy and a determined Communist Party led by an avid football fan, President Xi Jinping. What could go wrong?
