Let us cheer for Lang Ping in the name of volleyball although she coached a US team that beat the Chinese team, says an article in China Youth Daily. The following is an excerpt:

U.S. head coach Lang Ping talks to her players Stacy Sykora (L) and Kim Willoughby during their women's preliminary Pool A volleyball match against Poland at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 17, 2008. [Agencies]

Millions of Chinese were expecting to watch the Olympic match between China's national women's volleyball team and its American counterpart. And finally the Chinese lost the game to Americans coached by Lang Ping, a former Chinese volleyball star. It has triggered some criticism of Lang for serving as the head coach for the Americans, but I want to say, let us cheer for her in the name of volleyball.

It is Lang Ping who was the pride of all Chinese about 20 years ago. In the 1980s, China's national women's volleyball team with Lang as the leading player won five world championships in succession and this wonder greatly captured the hearts of the Chinese as China just started to open its door to the outside. It is no exaggeration to say that Lang Ping was far more than just a volleyball star; she was a symbol pregnant with national pride and patriotism.

It is also Lang who beat China's national women's volleyball team on August 16 in the Olympic match. Before the match, the media showed support for Lang although she coached a US team and few fans were really prepared for the Chinese team's loss to the US team. After the match, will the fans continue to support Lang?

In the 1994 Asian Games, He Zhili, a former Chinese table tennis player who chose Japanese nationality, snatched a gold medal for Japan after beating Chinese player Deng Yaping. Some fans poured hatred and anger on her.

But I am quite confident that Chinese fans of today will no longer indignantly denounce Lang as a "betrayer" or a "traitor" as they denounced He 14 years ago.

The Olympic Games is just a stage for athletes of different countries to perform and compete. It is not a battlefield between countries. The win or loss of games has nothing to do with national interests, nor are they related to the national esteem. More and more people share this view in the world.

In the past 30 years, a batch of foreign coaches have been invited to head Chinese teams. Only at the Beijing Olympic Games, Zhang Juanjuan, coached by a South Korean, won China's first- ever Olympic archery title by beating her South Korean competitors. French coach Christian Bauer helped Zhong Man beat French Nicolas Lopez 15-9 to win the men's fencing gold medal.

The coming of these foreign coaches to China not only brings skills, but also enriches and improves Chinese people's understanding of the spirit of sports. Since we can cheer for these foreign coaches, why can't we also cheer for Lang?