An impassioned debate yesterday raged in China about the state of the men’s national soccer team after the women’s side thrashed sorry Tajikistan 16-0 at the Asian Games.
Forward Wang Shanshan plundered nine goals — a remarkable hat-trick of hat-tricks — as China ran riot on Monday in the Indonesian host city of Palembang.
China’s women, who consistently outshine their male counterparts on the international stage, have easily won two games out of two at the Games and face mighty North Korea today to decide who takes top spot in Group B.
China had hammered Hong Kong 7-0 and the women’s latest goal fest sparked debate back home on social media.
China’s men’s team are something of a national embarrassment, qualifying for the FIFA World Cup only once, in 2002, when they failed to win a point or even score a goal.
“Are they playing volleyball? Can we spare half of the points for the men?” one microblogger said, after the women went to town on hapless Tajikistan.
“Take the men’s salary and send it to the women’s team,” another said.
“Maybe the men should castrate themselves and fight for the glory of the country,” was one of the more extreme reactions.
However, plenty of others were quick to defend China’s men, who have won all three of their matches at the Asian Games, albeit against limited opposition.
“What’s the matter, are you looking down on the men’s team?” one microblogger said in response.
“Don’t say that the men can’t do it,” another said.
Tajikistan have shipped 32 goals in two matches, having also been demolished 16-0 by North Korea at the Asian Games.
The one-sided scorelines for North Korea and China matched the tournament record.
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