SHANGHAI SIPG boss Sven-Goran Eriksson believes China, buoyed by the influence of President Xi Jinping, can put aside years of failure at international level and push for World Cup glory in a decade.

    The Swede’s club has, like many Chinese Super League (CSL) sides, invested heavily of late in new players and facilities after soccer fan Xi demanded soccer officials improve on just one disappointing group-stage exit at the 2002 World Cup.

    China is in danger of an early exit from 2018 World Cup qualifying in Asia but Eriksson said the Asians would quickly see the returns on their multi-million dollar investment.

    “Ten years ahead, 15 years ahead, I am quite sure that the China national team will compete to win the World Cup,” he told reporters ahead of SIPG’s AFC Champions League opener away to Melbourne Victory on Tuesday.

    “The future for China is great.”

    The much-travelled 68-year-old coach made his managerial name after winning titles in Portugal with Benfica and Lazio in Italy before taking over as England coach and later Manchester City.

    Eriksson moved to China with Guangzhou R&F in 2013 before taking over at Shanghai a year later and led it to a runner-up CSL finish last term, behind Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Guangzhou Evergrande, after signing Argentina’s Dario Conca and Ghanaian Asamoah Gyan.

    He said his move to the burgeoning market of China had been another fortunate step in his career. (SD-Agencies)