Former England Manager Sven-Göran Eriksson claimed that China could lift the World Cup within a decade, as Chinese President Xi Jinping "pushes on with his football revolution," according to Tom Phillips of the London GUARDIAN. Construction work "has begun on thousands of football academies since he took office" in late '12. Top European and South American clubs and coaches "have been invited to help China revive its domestic game." Eriksson claimed those efforts "were paying off," and said, "The future for China is great. I’ve been in Italy during the 90s when every player wanted to come to Italy because the football was very good, then I was in England during the 2000s and all the players wanted to go to the Premier League because of more money and the good football. Now, in 2016, it seems that every player wants to come to China for the same reasons. [All the money] will make the clubs much stronger. Maybe 10 or 15 years ahead, I’m sure China’s national team will compete well [enough] to win the World Cup" (GUARDIAN, 2/23).
