With the Asian Cup knockout rounds about to begin, the national soccer team has returned home early for the New Year. In the group stage, they achieved 0 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in 3 matches without scoring any goals, which is recognized as the worst performance in the history of the national soccer team. However, despite the poor results, the national soccer team was rewarded with generous bonuses due to their success in advancing to the top 24 of the Asian Cup. According to domestic media reports, the national soccer team will receive a participation bonus of $200,000, which converts to 1.43 million yuan according to the Chinese yuan, and each national team player will earn tens of thousands of dollars in considerable income.
The AFC has also reportedly set a minimum guaranteed bonus of $200,000 even if a team fails to make it out of the group stage. If the team performs better, the amount of the bonus will be higher. Those teams that manage to reach the semi-finals of the Asian Cup will receive a bonus of US$1 million, with US$3 million for the runners-up and US$5 million for the winners. This is set up to motivate the players, to give their best on the playing field and show their best form.
After all the group stage matches of the Asian Cup, the national soccer team has been ranked, setting a record for the worst ever, coming in at only 18th place. Sadly, the national soccer team only needed a draw against Qatar to advance to the group stage, and the other team didn't even field their core players for most of the tournament. However, we missed out on such a great opportunity and it is no wonder that the majority of our fans are angry.
In addition, the Beijing Youth Daily authoritative media reports that the national soccer team is about to drop to 13th place in the Asian rankings, which has created the worst record in recent years. It is worth mentioning that Bahrain and Jordan and other third-ranked teams that performed well in the Asian Cup will also surpass the national soccer team. Subsequently, there are world qualifiers in March, we do not know what kind of strength the national soccer team can show.
Coach Jankovic has been widely criticized after the national football team finished its Asian Cup tour. Domestic journalists have been calling for Jankovic's dismissal and have suggested possible candidates such as Cui Kangxi, Xu Jungwon and Jordy. Recently, renowned sports journalist Ma Dexing revealed the inside story of Yankovic's appointment. The whole selection process was very rushed and the top management of the FA didn't think it through at the time, making it a bad decision to allow Jankovic, who was originally in charge of the Asian Games team, to coach the national team.
According to Madsing, it may not be fair to blame Jankovic for the failure of the national soccer team. At the Foshan selection meeting in mid-February 2023, it was decided that Jankovic would be promoted directly from the 99-age Asian Games team to head coach of the national team, but this was already being questioned at the time. It's worth noting that the CFA's leader at the time was Du Zhaocai, who was taken away for review in early April last year on suspicion of serious violations of the law and disciplinary actions, and will be tried by the law.
It seems only a matter of time before Jankovic steps down, and the biggest concern is whether he will be able to continue to lead the team to the World Qualifiers in a little over a month's time. A hasty change of manager may not be enough to refresh the Chinese national team. However, if Jankovic is allowed to continue coaching, the Football Association will bear a huge responsibility if they ultimately fail to qualify for the 18-team tournament. The pressure is also on Song Kai, the new president of the soccer association, to weigh the pros and cons and make the most favorable choice.
