2-0 win! Huge changes at the FA, new leader promotes Gao Hongbo, and the sky is the limit for Chinese soccer.
Beijing time on October 11, in a just concluded international warm-up match, the national football team finally beat the Vietnamese men's football team 2-0. Yankovic also won a breath of fresh air for the fans, and also reported the "revenge" for the loss in the preliminaries. Song Kai, the new president of the Football Association, was quite satisfied with the performance of the national football team. He hoped that Jankovic would continue his efforts and win again.
According to the plan, the Chinese men's football team will play another warm-up match against the Uzbekistan men's football team on October 16, and the 2026 preliminaries will be held in November. The first opponent of the Chinese men's soccer team is the Thai men's soccer team. Our opponents in these two warm-up matches are also designed to simulate the match against Thailand, which shows the importance the FA attaches to the Chinese men's soccer team.
Coincidentally, October 16th is also the time for the CFA General Assembly. At that time, the new FA leadership headed by Song Kai will be formally appointed to enter the front of the Association to lead China's soccer to set sail again. With the arrival of this new leadership team, order has really been restored to the FA system, and the seven-member working group sent by the General Administration of Sport will have officially completed its mission. With the crucial point of the preliminaries approaching, the national soccer team is step by step on the right track. All the fans are here to follow this, so Song Kai has achievement requirements for the national soccer team.
Not long ago, former FA leader Du Zhaocai was officially notified of his formal arrest. Others, including Chen Xuyuan, were also taken away for investigation. Awaiting them will be the severe punishment of the law, and they are destined to accompany them for the rest of their lives.
As the saying goes, Gao Zhidan, the leader of the General Administration of Sport, was very optimistic about Song Kai. He appointed Song Kai to parachute into the preparatory team of the CFA to lead the team. In the next few years, the CFA has a clear goal to lead the men's soccer team to the 2026 World Cup, to reshape the soccer system, to find a clean and capable leader to lead the team's management, and to build a clean and positive environment for our FA system, including the league.
Of course, because Song Kai used to be the director of the Liaoning Provincial Sports Bureau, he just started working in the FA system and needed to get his support. Song Kai has been working in the Liaoning Provincial Sports Bureau for many years and has also led the Liaoning Men's Basketball team to some success. Basketball and soccer are the three major sports, but somewhat different. Therefore, some media reports said that Song Kai recognized "experts" Gao Hongbo and Sun Wen, especially Gao Hongbo. Because before Chen Xuyuan and Du Zhaocai led the FA, Gao basically had no real power, he was only responsible for the league's youth training.
Song Kai also regretted that people who really know soccer were marginalized. Therefore, when Song Kai was parachuted into the FA system, he immediately recommended to the preparatory team to appoint promote Gao Hongbo and gradually put him in charge of important management positions such as the Chinese Super League and the referee department. When Song Kai was actually appointed as the new leader of the FA, Gao Hongbo would continue to serve as the vice-chairman of the FA, and Gao Hongbo would be given real power. During this period, Gao Hongbo will mainly help Song Kai to complete the work handover and use his rich experience to help Song Kai quickly adapt to the daily work of the FA.
When the preliminaries began in November, Song Kai, who was then in charge of the Football Association, would join the national soccer team for the tournament. Because the first round was in Thailand, Song Kai and Gao Hongbo would personally accompany the team and monitor the players' performance.
It is certain that with the fall of Du Zhaocai and Chen Xuyuan, including the arrest of Li Tie for corruption and bribery, everyone in the FA system is now in danger, and no one dares to stretch out their hands again. There is no oil and water in the future of the FA system. In addition, Song Kai worked hard during his time at the Liaoning Provincial Sports Bureau, and he will put an end to the wastefulness and cut off the specification of the treatment Chen Xuyuan received when he went out during his time at the helm.
Finally, we also believe that Song Kai can lead the new leadership team to take far-reaching action on China's soccer reform. Chinese soccer needs to strengthen its youth training, both for men and women. We should also continue to optimize selection and promotion channels, so that people who really know soccer can come to the right position to lead the team. As long as we insist on taking one step at a time, I believe that Chinese soccer can achieve its goal of entering the World Cup as soon as possible.
