Chinese Football's Hope: Song Kai Personally Confirms Japanese Coach, Abandoning Local Coaches!
The chairman of the Football Association, Song Kai, recently revealed in an interview with Japanese media that the first Japanese head coach of the U16 national team, Kamikage Kenichi, was personally confirmed by him. He is full of expectations for learning from Japanese football in the future and believes that Kamikage Kenichi represents the hope for Chinese football. From many details, it can be seen that Song Kai is indeed the most hopeful chairman of the Football Association we have seen in recent years.
Firstly, he is very bold. Previously, many national teams were controlled by some local veteran coaches, such as Cheng Yaodong, who liked long-term training camps and was always an important candidate for the head coach of various national youth teams. Even when selecting foreign coaches, the Football Association rarely dared to choose a Japanese head coach. Now, Song Kai directly confirms Kamikage Kenichi to coach the Chinese U16 national team, and not just one; the U15 head coach, Minami Shima, is also Japanese. This courage and boldness are indeed very commendable.
Secondly, Song Kai is really modest and open, willing to learn from foreign countries to overcome them. In the interview, he said that he decided at that time that he must learn from advanced football countries, so he invited many Japanese coaches to coach in China. He said that Japanese coaches are meticulous and tenacious, which is what he values. These advantages are indeed very suitable for China's football youth training, which is much more open than previously entrusting various national teams to local coaches.
Lastly, Song Kai dares to delegate power and has given Japanese coaches full trust. He said that Kamikage Kenichi not only has good ideas tactically but also puts effort into daily life management. This can indeed be seen; the Football Association does not interfere too much. Look at the former captain of the U16 national team and mixed-race talented defender Zhang Hongfu, who was excluded from the national team due to disciplinary issues and has not been selected for several months. Japanese coaches are very strict in daily management, of course, we still hope that Zhang Hongfu can recognize his mistakes as soon as possible and regain the trust of the Japanese coach.
From the above three points, Song Kai has shown his boldness, openness, and wisdom, and is indeed the most promising chairman of the Football Association in recent years. As long as the youth training can be improved, there is really hope for the future of Chinese football! (Lao Qiu)