The 0:1 loss to Qatar leaves the national soccer team with only a theoretical hope of advancing. After the game, the players thanked the fans, but Zhang Linmiao and Wu Xi's raised hands seemed to be apologizing. Three games, two draws, one loss and zero goals. Jankovic is the man most responsible for the national soccer team's impending elimination. Although the FA has not fired him, his journey to coaching the national soccer team has been visible to the naked eye. Social media after the match was full of fans calling for his dismissal. In the post-match press conference, Kovic said:- "I didn't focus on individuals. I worked in China for six years and before that dedicated myself to developing the next generation. For me, these experiences are the most precious.
I'm not willing to go to the Yellow River. Even though I only scored 2 points, Jankovic didn't think that the national soccer team had no hope of making it out of the tournament. He said: "Every time I try my best, I have no regrets. Like tonight, we still have a theoretical chance. We just missed some chances and really didn't have the luck to score. There will always be moments in the future when we score. If I can't create any chances, that's my biggest worry. I created those chances and I didn't score. I have nothing to say. We missed some chances in the first half and we all had good chances to miss all three games. Now the disappointment is for sure because the fate lies with other teams.
It's true that the national soccer team couldn't score against South Korea in the preliminaries, and couldn't score against Tajikistan, Lebanon, or Qatar in the Asian Cup, but there will always be teams that are weaker than those teams. There are definitely times when the national soccer team can score goals, but can the likes of Jankovic get them? The CFA management needs to give an answer. After all, there are less than two months until the 2026 Preliminary Round bonfire reignites.
