The Chinese Football Association (CFA) recently officially announced the roster for the latest edition of the national football team as the warm-up match between the national football team and Syria in September draws near.
Given the time constraints and the fact that the head coach of the national soccer team, Jankovic, has no experience in coaching in a Chinese Super League team, the list of the national soccer team has not changed much from the past. The players selected are all familiar faces to the fans, with some of the old international players who have been underperforming in the league recently also appearing in this list, which has caused controversy among the fans. In the controversy, Shanghai Harbour Team surprisingly had 8 players selected at the same time, which caused the biggest controversy.
On this national football team list, the 8 players of Harbour Team are Yan Junling, Wu Lei, Zhang Linlian, Wang Shenchao, Jiang Guangtai, Xu Xin, Wei Zhen and Li Shuai. As we all know, Yan Junling, Wu Lei, Zhang Linpeng, Jiang Guangtai, Wang Shenchao have been the regulars of the national soccer team, but recently the Harbour Team's performance in the league and the AFC Champions League has been very bad, with 1 draw and 3 losses in 4 matches. The form of these players is hardly satisfactory.
In the two games, the gate guarded by Yan Junling was pierced by the opponents six times, with a save success rate of less than 30%. Port's consecutive big losses are directly related to the poor form of the team's entire defense, with the old problem of Wu Lei's lack of ability to grasp chances and abilities in the past few games being particularly prominent.
In addition, four of the eight Harbour players selected for the national team list are over 30 years old, and the form of Zhang Linlian and Wang Shenchao has seriously declined over the past two years. In the matches against Batun United and Henan, they struggled on the pitch as they were unable to stop their opponents' strikers. In the match against Batun United, they were easily scored three goals by Uzbekistan striker Sergeyev, an unheralded opponent. So, there have been high voices to clear Zhang Linmiao and Wang Shenchao out of the national team recently.
And to add to the fans' confusion, Harbour's Wei Zhen and Li Shuai were both named to the latest national team at the same time. Wei Zhen has been a fringe player for Harbour in recent seasons, and was recently kicked out of the team's starting lineup by Javier. Although Li Shuai has been reused by Xavier this season as Hong Kong's main left back, his offensive and defensive problems are still very evident. He often fails to return to the defense in time after an assist, which makes Hong Kong's left side a key area for opponents to break through. Recently, several goals conceded by Hong Kong team are directly related to him.
Finally, let's take a look at Xu Xin. After joining Harbour last season, Xu Xin has not been able to be reused by Leko. This season, after taking over the Harbour, Javier once again put Xu Xin into the team's starting lineup, but his performance in both offense and defense was obviously not as good as Shandong Taishan. In this regard, many fans said that this is because Xu Xin's midfield partner has changed from Sun Zhunhao to Cai Huikang, and their ability and level are not at the same level at all. Without Sun Zhunhao's complement, Xu Xin's shortcomings were exposed.
Despite the problems faced by Harbour's players, eight players are still honored to be on this edition of the national team roster. A team that relies on the referees to be at the top of the league table will be exposed for what it is once it does not have the referees' forgiving support. It is perplexing that so many members of the team, other than foreign players, have been selected for the national team. This has left many fans puzzled and disappointed with the prospects of the national team at the 2026 World Cup.
