Thomas Mueller and Mesut Ozil, two 20-year-olds, are set to go down in World Cup history after their stunning displays in South Africa helped send Germany to the semifinals.

I had hoped Germany could reach the final and win the title, not only because of its celebrated diversity of nationalities which included players with links to nine other countries, but more for the capabilities and youthfulness of the young guns, who were a vital part of Germany's Cup campaign.

I don't know what the German Football Federation has done to bring up such a group of talented youngsters which seems set to take Germany a step further at the World Cup in Brazil four years from now. But I did read that Germany boasts a comprehensive and all-around training program which every year dishes out 20 million euros ($26 million) to hundreds of youth training clinics. Nineteen of the 23 World Cup 2010 members came from the Bundesliga youth training project and the other four from the German second division youth project.

In nation of only 80 million people, there are 6 million registered soccer players.

The development of golf in China could follow the German example — from junior to amateur, from amateur to professional and from professional to the top of the game.

A great player starts at the grassroots level and this is where we must lay a solid foundation for future success.

Statistics show China has 348 golf clubs out of the world's total of 31,548 and Asia's 3,758. China has a core golf population of 300,000, compared with 12 million to 13 million in the United States. China only has 30,000 people aged under 18 playing golf while the US has 2.8 million from five to 11 and 3.3 million from 12 to 17 playing the sport.

I believe China is still in its golf infancy. Lots of things need to be done to foster the sport in a country where many believe Chinese athletes can always excel in non-contact sports.

Golf returns to the Olympic fold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. It's good news for the governing body, the Chinese Golf Association, as the country has a strong Olympic medal-oriented training program and that means more money and support for the game.

Also on the positive side, more youngsters are taking up the sport. But the number of amateur tournaments is not enough. Parents are finding it hard to register their children in tournaments, including the China Amateur Golf Futures Tour (CFT). It is affecting the players' enthusiasm and hindering their first steps to success.