China played against Singapore and Fernando got his first start. With excellent individual skills and teamwork ability, he made some breakthroughs and created threats in the game. He scored a penalty kick in the match and had a very good overall performance. Recently in the Chinese Super League, Fernando scored a goal and assisted for Shandong Taishan, as well as a key pass to help his team beat Cangzhou Lions, showing that he is in hot form. However, Fernando is over 30 years old and his fitness is declining, and he may only be able to play around 60 minutes on the pitch. Ivankovic will need to capitalize on that, and it's something he'll need to deal with seriously.
If Fernando is able to temporarily replace Wu Lei's role, it will be even more difficult for the national team, which is already short of manpower at the back of the midfield, to find a replacement for Li Yuanyi. Whether it's foreign naturalized player Li Ke or local player Xu Xin, neither of them seem to be able to live up to outside expectations. As a result, Ivankovic may have to consider a change in tactics to cover his deficiencies through numerical superiority in some areas. All in all, the national team's next match against Thailand will be a must-win game. Even if they are lucky enough to advance, it will be meaningless if they do not win.
