Few Chinese children are playing soccer. Some sports journalists and fans attribute the lack of interest partly to schools de-emphasizing sports in general and the lack of playing venues in the country's dense urban areas. "What can Chinese kids do?” said Fan Huiming, 61, a Chinese soccer fan who grew up watching matches at Beijing's Workers' Stadium, which was built in 1958 near his childhood home. "If they play soccer, the ball may fly directly into the glass of someone's home."

　很少中国孩子踢足球，一些记者和球迷认为，这在一定程度上是由于学校普遍不重视体育所致，另外则与中国的密集城区缺少足球场有关。“孩子们能做什么呢？”自幼就在北京工人体育场看比赛的61岁球迷范惠明(音)说，“如果他们踢球，球可能直接飞到别人家玻璃上去了”。

　　For young people, soccer has largely been eclipsed by basketball, thanks in part to Chinese NBA players who are treated like rock stars. Journalists and fans say NBA's aggressive campaign of marketing and merchandise in China has helped swell the popularity of basketball. By comparison, they noted that international soccer does not even have an office in China。

　对中国年轻人而言，足球与篮球相比黯然失色。在NBA打球的中国球员被像摇滚明星一样追捧。记者和球迷表示NBA大力拓展中国市场提高了篮球普及率。相比之下，国际足联在中国甚至没有一个办事处。

　　Rowan Simons, a Briton who came to China more than two decades ago and discovered he wasn't able to play weekend soccer, has been on a campaign to popularize the sport here. Simons said the main problem is that soccer elsewhere has traditionally started as a series of neighborhood clubs, but in China, "there's virtually no football at community level"。

　　20多年前来到中国的英国人西蒙斯，发现在周末都不能踢球后，就一直在中国致力于普及足球运动。他认为主要问题是其他国家传统上都从社区俱乐部做起，“而在中国，实际上并没有社区基础足球。”

　　"Football in China can only succeed if it's a grass-roots activity organized by the people," he said。

　　西蒙斯说，“只有民众组织起草根活动后，中国足球才能够成功”。