Time flies and October is just around the corner, which means there is just over a month left before the Chinese men's soccer team's two world qualifying group matches in November.
Earlier this month, the national soccer team played two warm-up matches against Malaysia and Syria, and the overall performance was very disappointing, with only one draw and one loss, and the team had a lot of problems at both the offensive and defensive ends.
On the offensive side, naturalized player Eickson was unique up front, failing to take even a single shot on goal in two games, a stark contrast to his performance in Chengdu Rongcheng. In fact, Ickerson's poor performance in the national soccer team had a lot to do with the fact that he didn't get enough support from the midfield.
As a key winger, Iverson needs the midfield and two wingers to feed the ball, but the national soccer team doesn't do enough of either, and the main reason for this problem is that the national soccer team lacks a true attacking initiator. Wu Xi is too old and Li Kegang needs time to adapt. Xu Xin is in poor form, and neither Wang Shangyuan nor Wang Qiuming have been recognized by coach Yang Kovic.
As a result, the national soccer team urgently needs to add a new central midfielder, and Asian Games youngster Dai Weijun is the perfect candidate for that role. Yankovic admired Dai Weijun's ability when he coached the Olympic team and used him as the core of organizing the team's attack.
At the Hangzhou Asian Games, Dai Weijun also performed very well, not only successfully connecting the midfield of the national soccer Asian Games, providing assists to his frontline teammates, but also scoring through long-distance shots. Dai's dribbling, breaking, passing and long-distance shooting abilities are the most lacking elements in the national soccer midfield. I am sure that after the Asian Games tour, Jankovic will definitely call Dai Weijun into the national team and give him the responsibility of organizing the attack up front.
On the defensive side, veteran Zhang Linpeng was criticized by many fans for his performance in the National Soccer Warm-up Tournament, and he certainly can't play as a starter in the upcoming World Qualifiers. From the current situation, Zhu Chenjie, the captain of the national soccer Asian Games team, is the best candidate to replace Zhang Linpeng.
However, due to a very serious leg injury, Xiao Zhu will miss many matches in the next two months. In this situation, Jankovic desperately needs to find a new replacement for Zhang Linpeng. Zhu Chenjie's teammate Jiang Shenglong has a high calling, but he does not have any previous experience with the adult national soccer team, so I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to occupy a position in the national soccer team in a short period of time.
Wu Shaocong, a young man studying abroad who is currently playing in the Turkish league, would be a more suitable choice for Jankovic. In January, Wu Shao Cong terminated his contract with Guangzhou and joined Turkish Super League side Basaksehir, making his debut in the Turkish Super League in May. In order to give Wu Shaochong more training opportunities, Basakseer loaned him to Turkish Youth United Sports in the new season. Currently, Wu Shaochong has become the team's main center back and can be in the starting lineup in every game.
Although his height reaches 1.92 meters, Wu Shaocong's speed and agility are not bad at all. He can not only play center back, but also play the role of left back. This characteristic is very suitable for today's national football team.
Now the national soccer team lacks both center backs and left backs, Li Lei and Wang Shenchao's form has declined very badly in the past two years, and Sun Guowen plays the role of soy sauce in the national team. When Wu Shao Cong enters the national team, he can not only replace Zhang Lin Peng as the main center back of the team, but also make a guest appearance in case the national soccer team lacks a left back.
In preparation for the World Qualifier, the national soccer team will play two warm-up matches against Vietnam and Uzbekistan in October and many Asian Games teams will be added to the national team. I believe the arrival of these players will inject new energy into the national soccer team and I hope they will bring some new surprises to the fans.
