At the end of October, the ancient capital of Xi'an set off a football fever

Reporter Liu Xiangyu reports The Xi'an Sports Training Center is home to a number of sports teams, which is the cradle of sports talents in Xi'an and even Shaanxi. Recently, football has become the theme here, and a huge poster standing at the entrance of the training center reminds passers-by that an international youth football tournament has settled in Xi'an, and the Xi'an Sports Training Center at the end of October has become lively because of football.

After a long period of preparation, the 2024 Xi'an International Youth Football Invitational Tournament will be held from October 24 to October 30 as scheduled.

The men's U14 group was set up in this event, the group stage was held at the Xi'an Sports Training Center, and the final was arranged at the Xi'an Olympic Sports Center. A total of 8 teams from 5 countries were invited to participate in the competition, and 4 foreign teams were Oldenburg Youth Team of Germany, Dunbosch Youth Team of Netherlands, Cotton Farmers Youth Team of Uzbekistan, and Hairati Youth Team of Kazakhstan; The four domestic teams are Xi'an Youth Football Team, Shenzhen Base U14 Men's Football Elite Echelon, Guangzhou Yinghua Sili Youth Team, and Zhejiang Youth Team.

The eight teams are divided into two groups, with the top two advancing to the championship group and the bottom two advancing to the upper group. Cotton farmers are frequent visitors to the AFC Champions League and the Central Asian Football Whampoa Military Academy, which has exported many outstanding football stars. Hellati has a strong strength and distinctive style of play, they successfully advanced with the elite echelon of the Shenzhen base, and in the other group, Yinghua Sili and cotton farmers successfully broke through. Hosts Xi'an also performed well in the group stage, but unfortunately lost to Yinghua Sly in the final game and entered the upper group.

The eight teams have their own characteristics, and Xi'an has built the best stage for the players. In terms of event preparation, the organizing committee welcomes visitors from all over the world in accordance with the standards and requirements of international football events, and uses the best venues, referees, and accommodation conditions to hold high-level international events. The final will be played on 30 October at the Olympic Sports Centre.

​

With the theme of "Silk Road Chang'an, Chasing Dreams", the event aims to inherit the spirit of the Silk Road, promote the growth of young people, promote the development of football, show the image of the city, and strengthen exchanges and cooperation with young people from all over the world through football, the world language.

During the competition, Xi'an held a series of colorful activities such as youth football exchange meeting, appreciation of Xi'an cityscape, visit and study activities, etc., and the participating players and coaches visited the Terracotta Warriors and the ancient city wall of Xi'an, which is a precious experience for young players from afar.

​

​

In order to ensure the learning of the players after the game, the Xi'an Sports Bureau also specially invited teachers from Tieyi Middle School Lugang School to tutor the children.

Xiao Qi, Deputy Mayor of Xi'an, mentioned at the opening ceremony of the event: "After being rated as a key city for national football development, Xi'an has thoroughly implemented the deployment requirements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on football work, fully implemented the Overall Plan for the Reform and Development of Chinese Football and the Implementation Opinions on the Reform and Development of Chinese Youth Football, and issued the Implementation Plan for Building a Key City for National Football Development to systematically promote the high-quality development of football work. Xiao Qi said, "Xi'an is committed to building a "sports and youth-friendly" city, and integrating the spirit of hard work and enterprising sportsmanship into the city's temperament. The holding of the International Youth Football Invitational Tournament not only builds a platform for Chinese and foreign young people to feel the passion and charm of football, but also a new starting point for Xi'an to deepen football exchanges with foreign countries and promote the development of youth football. ”

Zhang Wei, director of Xi'an Football Sports Management Center, said that it is necessary to build the Xi'an International Youth Football Invitational Tournament into a brand event with long-term influence, and add links such as scientific and technological application exchanges in the future to enrich the content of the event.

​

​

At the same time, on the morning of October 28, the youth football exchange meeting with the theme of "Integration· Innovation· Talking about the Green Future" was held at the Xi'an Sports Training Center, looking forward to the bright future of youth football.

Korea coach Lee Jang-so, Shaanxi co-coach Edwin Peterson, and football newspaper president Liu Xiaoxin delivered keynote speeches. Lee Jang-so discussed the direction of youth training from professional football, Edwin elaborated from the perspective of player development, and Liu Xiaoxin focused on sharing from the perspective of sports and education integration. After the keynote speeches of the three industry leaders, a roundtable discussion was held and the grassroots coaches on the scene interacted with the scene.

​

​

Liu Gang, deputy director of Xi'an Sports Bureau, said at the exchange meeting: "Under the strong leadership of the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government, the Xi'an Sports Bureau has actively promoted the high-quality development of football, especially youth football, in recent years. First of all, we have laid a solid foundation of hardware and software. In 2018, our city was identified by the Ministry of Education as a national youth campus football reform pilot area; Lianhu District and Lintong District have been identified as national youth campus football pilot areas. Through the widespread development of campus football, the number of young people in our city participating in football has increased significantly, the level of competition has been steadily improved, and the atmosphere of football culture has become increasingly strong. Up to now, we have established 1 national youth campus football training camp, 299 football characteristic schools, 4 football characteristic districts and counties, 13 youth training centers, 25 reserve talent bases, and 15 youth football clubs, and the youth football talent cultivation system has been basically completed. There are 1,318 campus football fields and 241 social football fields, and the foundation of youth football facilities has been further consolidated. Second, we have promoted a new situation of development. Actively host high-level competitions such as a series of youth football events of the Chinese Football Association. It has widely carried out high-level competitions and elite training camps such as the China Youth Championship (Xi'an Division) Qualifiers, Xi'an Youth Football Championship, Xi'an Campus Football League, Xi'an University Football League, etc., and held more than 2,000 football events every year. A new situation has been formed in which the government, campuses, associations, and markets work together. ”

At the same time as the event, the National Football Development Key Cities Working Conference and the relevant meetings of the China Football Development Foundation were also held in Xi'an. Football has become the theme of Xi'an at the end of October, and this golden autumn, Xi'an has also become colorful because of football.

​

​