In preparation for the upcoming Asian Cup tournament, the national soccer team will gather again on the 17th of this month and head to the United Arab Emirates for a training session. Sources say Jankovic has already finalized the latest national team roster, which is currently unannounced because it is waiting for the three Chinese Super League teams competing in the AFC Champions League to complete the final round of group matches.
According to a report from Tianjin Daily, this Asian Cup is a test for Jankovic from the CFA and will even determine whether he can continue to coach in the next world qualifiers. Jankovic is so focused on the tournament that he will be taking the national team to the UAE for training and he plans to add three more players to the squad. The same news also pointed out that Yankovic is very high on Jiang Guangtai and Wang Qiuming, so these two players will be selected for sure. Li Shuai, who failed to make the World Cup squad due to injury, will also return to the national team.
We should know that the national soccer team of this Asian Cup is in the same group with the hosts Qatar, Lebanon and Tajikistan. According to strength and Asian rankings, Qatar, ranked sixth in Asia, is clearly the first in this group when it dominates at home, and the national soccer team, ranked 11th in Asia, and 19th in Asia., Tajikistan and Lebanon will fight for the second place in the group.
Of course, although Qatar has been a lot of naturalization, and has entered the World Cup consecutively, but from the historical record and technical and tactical point of view, the national football team is not Qatar. After all, the strength of Qatar and Japan and South Korea is a big gap, so the national football team also has the strength to hit the group first.
It can be said that reaching the knockout stage of the Asian Cup is the basic requirement of the FA for Jankovic. However, as a fan, the national soccer team should influence at least the top eight, because only by finishing in the top eight, the national soccer team can regain confidence, which is beneficial to influence the 8.5 places in the next world qualifying tournament.
In this context, the first match against Tajikistan is very important. After all, having a good start allows the national soccer team to take the initiative in terms of promotion and get into shape as soon as possible. However, Tajikistan, ranked 19th in Asia, is not a fish belly. They are physically better than the national soccer team. Therefore, Jankovic will have to change his position and base himself on defense, which will demand more from the midfielders.
Therefore, in China's match against Tajikistan, coach Jankovic is likely to replace Zhu Chenjie with Jiang Guangtai, who is more capable of defending, so that he can form a three center backs along with Jiang Shenglong and Wu Shaochong. Li Ke, who has excellent tackling ability, and Wang Qiuming, who is favored by Jankovic, will be the double back, with Wang responsible for organizing the attack and providing support for Wu Lei on the field.
Regarding the fans' biggest concerns, Ekson and Fernando, Jankovic has little hope of bringing them to the Asian Cup. After all, these two players were not selected in the previous World Cup qualifiers and their careers are coming to an end. This means that there are only two naturalized players in the national team and are likely to be Jankovic's starters.
