Chinese children football talents train in Madrid

World Today

Plans are in place to get 50 million children and adults playing football in China by 2020.

It’s part of the country’s ambitious goal to become a football powerhouse by 2050.

But can China ever catch up with the likes of Spain. CCTV America’s Dan Williams reports.

Football practice on the outskirts of Madrid only there the players are not Spanish but from China.

The brightest talent from the Guangzhou Evergrande Football School which is the world’s largest football school. Each year, the most promising 25 children are picked to take part in the program.

“The project is now in its fourth year in China, and it’s in its second year in Spain. And what we do here is try to work with them not just in a sporting sense but in an educational sense too, following the Chinese education system. There are now 75 kids of three different age groups. They are evaluated and chosen from the almost 3000 children we have there in China,” Luis Alsina, president of SOXNA said.

China’s strategy to become a football world superpower by 2050 is an ambitious target. But organizers there are in no doubt, the talent will eventually emerge..