The Chinese Football Association (CFA) recently announced that Ivankovic will be the new head coach of the national soccer team. The Daily News analyzed that we should not label Ivan as "familiar with Chinese soccer" too soon.
It's been more than a decade since I left Chinese soccer, and the players of Chinese soccer have changed several batches in that time. The players that Ivan has no connection with were all born after 1993, and even if they have some knowledge of Chinese soccer, it is only limited to the two dozen or so internationals who played for China in the last 12-team tournament. So it's best not to label Ivan as "familiar with Chinese soccer" too soon.
The national soccer team will start preparing for their two matches against Singapore on March 11, with the first match to be played away on March 21, leaving new head coach Ivankovic with just 10 days to prepare. The second match will be played at home in Tianjin on March 26, which also means that preparation time is very limited. For Ivankovic and the coaching team, getting up to speed quickly will be their first test. In addition, Ivankovic's ability to quickly understand the characteristics of the national team players after taking office is also the second test they face.
The first half of the Chinese Super League was divided into two intervals of 18 days each, which provided enough time for the Chinese team to train and play. However, Jankovic was sacked after the Asian Cup and the new head coach will need to spend more than a month to change the situation of the Chinese team, which is the third test.
