People's Daily Sports: Asian football is making progress overall, why is the national football team lagging behind?
On the evening of March 21, the Chinese men’s football team failed to take away 3 points in Singapore and drew 2:2, which also tarnished the prospects of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup Asian preliminaries.
This is the "first show" of new national football coach Ivankovic, but it is difficult to say that he is qualified. The "dividends" left by his predecessor Jankovic also disappeared after this draw.
It should be said that the performance of the national football team in the first and second half was completely different from that of the two teams, which was directly related to the on-the-spot command of the Croatian coach.
Judging from the first half of the game, this Singaporean team can only rank second in Southeast Asia. The Chinese team returned to the 4-back system and played well. Fernando was even more prosperous on the right. Although Wu Lei missed a penalty kick, he still scored two goals with his head and kick.
But surprisingly, Singapore took over the game in the second half. With the decline in physical fitness, the Chinese team had problems with midfield control and defense, and Ivankovic's response was not effective. "The personnel adjustments are mainly to maintain physical fitness and strive to score the third goal." Ivankovic explained after the game.
Of course, Ivankovic also has the helplessness of "a clever woman can't make a meal without straw". After Wu Xi declined the national team call-up and Li Ke failed to be selected for the 23-man roster, looking at the bench, there were only Gao Gao who had not yet established a foothold in Shanghai Shenhua. Tianyi and national football newcomer Cheng Jinneng can serve as defensive midfielders. In the end, the coach used a more radical approach and replaced attackers Wei Shihao and Lin Liangming. In addition to the rhetoric of "expanding the score", there was also the embarrassment of having no one available.
After forward Zhang Yuning went off due to injury, 34-year-old Exxon came on. This was the last substitution of the Chinese team. In the entire game, a total of 14 players from the Chinese team played, and there were only 6 players under the age of 30. The new coach may be able to make technical and tactical adjustments, but he cannot change the reality that the national team's personnel are out of schedule and inactive.
This game is also the first game led by Singapore head coach Tsutomu Ogura. He completed two substitutions after the two sides exchanged venues, and used up all five substitutions before the 77th minute. In the end, two substitutes made contributions, and the team won the first point in the group stage of this World Cup preliminaries.
On the evening of the 21st, the national football team may not be the only loser in the Asian qualifiers. The South Korean team was tied 1:1 at home by the Thai team, and the Syrian team also drew with the Myanmar team in a fierce battle away from home. Southeast Asian teams, which were not taken seriously by East and West Asia in the past, are collectively breaking out.
As a group competitor of the Chinese team, the Thai team pushed the Chinese team into a corner with a valuable point they scored in the away game. If the Chinese team still wants to take the initiative to qualify, winning consecutive games against Singapore and Thailand at home is a must.
The two draws in the third round of the group stage have also quietly changed the mentality of each team: Singapore coach Tsutomu Ogura believes that the team should "win a big comeback" at home, and the Thai team that returns to the home court will also face the South Korean team again. More insights; Son Heung-min, the "first brother" of the South Korean team, looked serious after being named the best player of the game. Zhang Linpeng, the captain of the Chinese team, had the idea of quitting the national team in an interview after the game.
Ivankovic said that many adjustments need to be made when playing against Singapore at home on March 26, "such as improving offensive efficiency, but first of all, we need to restore our physical condition as soon as possible." More importantly, the Chinese team urgently needed to calm down and revive their morale within five days. After all, the draw in Singapore was a heavy blow to the entire team.
