In a bid to turn around a continued lack of success at the international level, the Chinese Football Association is getting ready to send some of this country's most talented players overseas to train with some of the best youth programs on earth.
After numerous practice sessions, 460 under-13 players have been whittled down to a shortlist of 90, and of those, the best 30 will be headed to Spain to join the youth teams of Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Villareal.
Over 70 trials have been held in China over the past week under the watchful eye of experience youth coaches from the three Spanish programs. The 30 young Chinese players selected at the end of the process will then head to Spain for three years of intensive training. A number of football analysts in China feel that at this age, the talent level of the Chinese is not that far removed from that of their Spanish counterparts, so this program has the potential to yield great results.
The Spanish youth programs are very well regarded and are responsible for helping to develop some of the best talents in the world. The young Chinese players heading overseas will have a unique opportunity to, perhaps, help lift Chinese football to a new level moving forward.
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