中国队缺席世界杯 但中国球迷热情不减

Thirty-two of the world's best football teams are now competing for the iconic golden World Cup trophy -- but the planet's most populous nation is not among them.

Team China failed to qualify for the "beautiful game's" showpiece event in Brazil. In fact China's World Cup dream turned into a nightmare as early as 2011, when it was eliminated in a regional qualifying round.

But for all the interest in football in this country of more than one billion people, it is a huge source of frustration that they can't field a competitive national team.

China reached the finals only once back in 2002. I remember that heady year. There was a heroes' welcome for the national team, many of whom became icons with fat commercial endorsements. There was deleterious display of national pride accompanied by soaring expectations for Team China.

But their debut turned out to be an embarrassing dud: they were knocked out after the group stage without scoring a single goal.

Still, these setbacks have not deflated the football fever here.

Chinese football fans have been enjoying the action in Brazil despite matches taking place after midnight, Beijing time.

By hook or by crook, local fans are finding ways to stay up late for the games. Some took paid leave, others found excuses to stay home, such as getting doctors to sign sick-leave certificates. A man asked to take the day off ostensibly to attend a teacher-parent conference.

Some managers say work place productivity has dropped lately. A few companies have simply conceded defeat, agreeing to a staggered work schedule to allow for some employees to stay in late, and come in late.

Enthusiasm for the game brings commercial windfalls.

The World Cup advertising revenue for Leshi, one of China's largest video websites is estimated to reach RMB100 million yuan ($16 million), said its top executive Qiang Wei.

This summer alone CCTV, the state television network, could rake in as much as RMB1.5 billion yuan ($240 million) in advertising revenue -- 50% more than their earnings from the 2010 World Cup.

Coca Cola has used its sponsorship with a World Cup Trophy Tour, where they took the trophy to over 90 countries and held consumer events.

McDonald's ran point of sale promotions, which offered World Cup tickets to winners.

Other brands created various content, featuring international and national team players to connect the brand to the event.

Since the month-long competition opened in Brazil, legions of Chinese sports fans have been gathering for viewing parties in their living rooms, in factory and school dormitories, and in restaurants and bars, many of which have opened late for the fans to watch matches live on Chinese television.

Of course, not all of these sleep-deprived folks are bona fide football fans. A posting on Baidu, China's largest search engine, noted that the Chinese have recently coined the word "wei qiumi," or "fake soccer fans," referring to people who watch the game only once in a while, who care more about the final scores rather than enjoying the actual games, and who think celebrity players play a more important role in matches than the coaches.

32支世界上最好的球队都在为世界杯金灿灿的奖杯而浴血奋战，但地球上人口最多的国家却并没有参与其中。

中国队还不够资格去参与在巴西举行的这场精彩赛事。事实上，中国的世界杯梦早在2011年就成了一场噩梦，当时其在亚洲区预选赛中失去了进军巴西的资格。

但对这个对足球怀有极大兴趣、人口超过十亿的国家来说，不能组成一支具备竞争力的国家队出现在赛场上是一个让人十分沮丧的消息。

中国队唯一一次踢进世界杯决赛是在2002年。我记得这令人兴奋的一年。国家队在国内受到了英雄般的待遇。球员们都获得了收益丰厚的商业代言和赞助。伴随着洋溢着的民族自豪感而来的是人们对国足日益增加的期望，但这却不利于国足的成长。

而国足的首秀就以尴尬收场，他们在小组赛阶段就已出局，并且一球未进。

尽管如此，这些挫折并没有挫伤中国球迷的热情。

尽管球赛在北京时间零点后开始，中国球迷依然关注着在巴西的每场比赛。

中国球迷千方百计地为熬夜看球寻找途径。一些球迷请事假，其他的球迷则找借口呆在家中，比如找医生开假条。一名男子以参加家长会为由请了一天假。

一些经理说工作效率在最近这段时间下降很多。一些公司作出让步，同意交错排班以允许一些雇员熬夜或迟到。

对比赛的热情导致了商机倾盆而至。

中国最大的视频网站乐视网在世界杯期间的广告收入据估计达到了100万人民币，其首席执行官秦伟说道。

这个夏季，仅仅中央电视台，这个国家的有线电视网，在广告业务上就吸金高达15亿人民币——超过50%的收入都来自世界杯。

可口可乐运用其赞助权开启了世界杯冠军之旅，他们将奖杯带至90个国家并举行针对消费者的活动。

麦当劳进行销售推广，为中奖者提供世界杯球票。

自长达一个月的巴西世界杯开幕以来，大批的中国球迷聚集在客厅，工厂和学校的宿舍，餐厅以及酒吧观看比赛。很多餐厅和酒吧为球迷观看现场直播而延长营业。

当然，并不是所有的熬夜者都是忠实球迷。根据百度的一个帖子：中国最近产生了一个新造词——伪球迷，指的是那些只偶尔观看比赛，对球赛结果比球赛过程更关心及认为球星在比赛中比教练更重要的人。