By Sportswriter Ji Ye
FORTALEZA, Brazil, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Brazil is on the other side of the earth. It takes at least 24 hours from China to Brazil by flight. However, a number of Chinese people still come to the distant "Soccer Kingdom" to follow their dream.
Among them are promising players, retired veterans and player agents. Though China didn't make it to this year's World Cup, there is also a bridge between China and Brazil's soccer.
Promising Star
In October 2012, Chinese player Chen Zhizhao made his debut for Corinthians, becoming the first Chinese to play in the Brasileirao Serie A. Thanks to that experience, Chen was then called up for China's national squad and now transferred back to Beijing Guoan in the Chinese Super League.
Following Chen, more and more Chinese players choose to be rooted in the Brazilian league, despite the huge differences in language, food and culture between China and Brazil.
Tang Shi, a player from Shandong Luneng Soccer School, is one of them. The 17-year-old has recently been offered a long-term contract with Brazilian club Botafogo.
Tang caught the eye of Botafogo talent scouts during the Rio de Janeiro club's under-19 team Asian tour last year, which is known as the "Luneng Weifang" Cup International Youth Tournament in China.
"Coming to Brazil is a challenge for me, but it is also a dream come true," said Tang.
According to him, everyone at the club has been good to him and he has been training in accordance with a tailored program.
"This is a traditional club in Brazil. The management in training and living is very advanced and scientific," he said. "Brazilian coaches have higher requirements on the players' abilities in executing the tactics. And they have much more detailed arrangement."
FIFA Agent
Brazilian striker Muriqui, who scored a record 13 goals for China's Guangzhou Evergrande, in their last year's AFC Champions League triumph, won the award of 2013 AFC Foreign Player of the Year.
The successful player was brought to Guangzhou by Kirin Soccer in Brazil. The agent company also led the negotiation and transfer of striker Aloisio and Vagner Love to Shandong Luneng.
The close cooperation between the Brazilian company and China's soccer club is due to its founder Joseph Lee (Li Yuhong in Chinese), a FIFA Agent. Soccer is Lee's biggest interest but choosing soccer as a career is something he hardly imagined before.
Lee came to Brazil from Hong Kong in the 1980s. Like most Chinese here, when Lee first stepped on the Brazilian soil, he used to open a restaurant and fix cars in order to lead a life. But the busy work didn't affect his love for soccer. In spare time, he always played soccer with his colleagues and even participated in the local amateur league.
Lee's life was changed in 1993 when China's Jianlibao Youth Team came to Brazil to learn soccer. The Youth Team shouldered high hopes of Chinese fans in the 1990s, and after their Brazilian experience, the team produced several former national team members for China, while the manager of the team, Zhu Guanghu, went on to coach the Chinese national team from 2005 to 2007.
However, when the team first arrived in Brazil, they encountered huge problems in language, food and even accommodation. As an enthusiastic soccer fans, Lee provided selfless helps to the team, from cooking for them to organizing match.
Lee kept close relationship with Jianlibao Youth Team since then and gradually changed his career focus to soccer by becoming a certificated FIFA agent and founding the Kirin Soccer.
After the highest tier of professional soccer of China, commonly-known as Jia-A, got underway in 1994, numerous China's soccer club turned to Lee to seek for Brazilian player. Lee said between 1998 and 2005, his company sent 18 to 28 Brazilian players to Chine every year.
In recent years, the Kirin Soccer enjoyed a rapid growth as they built close relationships on credibility and competence with the most reputable Brazilian, European and Asian Clubs. Among the Brazilian players who were signed by the Kirin Soccer, there are several that have been called to Brazilian team. Lee also brokered the transfer of Brazilian midfielder Hernanes to Inter Milan.
Though Lee has been in Brazil for many years, he is still concerned about Chinese football.
"The professional football in Asia, especially in China, has moved forward with giant steps in all direction. The mission of the Kirin Soccer is to strengthen the partnership between Brazil and China through sport, sparing on efforts to let the Chinese football more powerful," said Lee.
Youth Training
Like Jianlibao Youth Team, Yunnan Hongta Soccer of China also sent a youth team to Brazil in 1998. Sun Xianlu was the coach of that team.
The sound quality of Brazilian training camp and the dense soccer atmosphere deeply attracted Sun as he decided to stay in Brazil focusing on training Chinese youth.
Sun, the main force of China's Liaoning Province when the team won the national championship 10 times between 1978 and 1993, established a soccer training camp in Brazil after the team of Yunnan Hongta was dismissed. Till now, he has been in Brazil for more than 10 years.
"Why China's soccer doesn't improve since the professional reform 20 years ago? Because there lacks the soccer atmosphere. Only people really love soccer then they are interested in investing and researching soccer. In Brazil, lots of people love playing soccer, so there are lots of soccer talents," said Sun.
In recent years, Chinese soccer pays more attention to youth training with more and more Chinese clubs seeking cooperation with Brazilian club in terms of youth development.
In the end of last year, Shandong Luneng launched the youth development program together with Brazilian club Sao Paulo.
The four-year agreement includes an exchange initiative allowing the Chinese Super League club's best youngsters to train in Brazil. Sao Paulo will in turn explore commercial opportunities in China and gain access to a new player market.
The program, to be led by former Sao Paulo first-team manager Sergio Baresi, began early this year. Baresi is now based at Shandong Luneng's headquarters in the eastern Chinese city of Jinan alongside Sinclair Dantas de Freitas Garcia (physical trainer), Luis Henrique Orlando (goalkeeping coach) and Bruno Happy (physiotherapist).
The group took charge of Shandong Luneng's under-20 side and coordinate the club's entire youth program. A selection of Chinese youngsters will also be chosen to train with Sao Paulo's youth teams at the Brazilian club's Cotia academy.
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