Chinese men's U16 national football players to train at Bundesliga clubs

The internationalization of Chinese football youth training is very important, said Chinese Football Association (CFA) President Song Kai at a launch ceremony for the Bundesliga Dream project in Shanghai on Wednesday. "We are working on it by both introducing international youth football coaches to China, and sending young athletes and coaches to learn and train abroad, including in Germany," Song told the Global Times.

Song noted the significance of strengthening youth training and overseas cooperation for the development of Chinese football. "Germany's youth football training system is probably the most advanced in the world, and it is worth learning from it," Song said in a speech at the ceremony.

Bundesliga Dream is a cooperative project between Bundesliga International and the CFA. Set to take place between February and March in 2024, a group of talented Chinese players from the U16 national team will train at the youth academies of several Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs, as well as playing against youth teams from around Germany, according to Bundesliga International.

Under the project, Chinese youth players will follow a structured training plan curated by the CFA in collaboration with the Bundesliga and participating clubs. This plan focuses on several key in-match scenarios, including the transition from defense to attack.

"We also encourage young football players from all cities, especially from our 16 key 'football cities,' to have the opportunity to get trained in countries like Germany," Song said, in response to a question raised by the Global Times at the Wednesday ceremony.

Song mentioned China's 3-0 home loss to South Korea in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian Zone qualifying tournament second stage on the previous evening.

"That match made me feel deeply that if Chinese football wants to improve, first, we must do a good job in cultivating the young people; and second, we must examine the development of our youth football from a global perspective," he said.

"So I'm glad to sign a long-term cooperation agreement with the Bundesliga," Song said. "Last night, German Jurgen Klinsmann led the South Korean team to a 3-0 victory over the Chinese team. I hope that one day, there will be a German head coach who leads the Chinese football team to a 4-0 victory over South Korea," he joked, drawing laughter and applause.

Peer Naubert, head of marketing at Bundesliga International, said that the Bundesliga Dream is mostly committed to working with Chinese football in supporting its youth development system and projects on a long-term basis. "We aim to create a long-term pathway for talented Chinese players … hopefully following the path of former Chinese players such as Shao Jiayi, Yang Chen, and more recently Liu Shaoziyang, who signed for Bayern Munich in 2021," Naubert said in a speech at the ceremony.

Renowned Bundesliga stars Shao and Lothar Matthäus also attended the ceremony.

"I'm happy to have this Bundesliga Dream for the Chinese young generation," Matthäus said. When the young Chinese players go to Germany, they will have the opportunities of playing against stronger players, and the competition can make them better, he added.