The Chinese men's soccer team had previously invited a number of foreign coaches with deep knowledge of Asian soccer to guide them, but ultimately failed to do so, so they had to promote Jankovic, the head coach of the Asian Games team, to be the new head coach of the national team. Currently, Portuguese coach Paulo Bento, who was previously a leading candidate for the CFA, has finally been offered a new job after turning down the national team's head coaching position to lead the UAE in their bid for the 2026 World Cup!
As we all know, as early as the end of last year and the beginning of this year, including domestic media sources and the Korean media, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) intends to invite the famous Portuguese coach Paulo Bento to lead South Korea to the Qatar World Cup in the hope that he can coach China. And this is also in line with the FA's selection criteria revealed by the outside world before, that is, it must be familiar with Chinese soccer and Asian soccer foreign coach!
However, after "breaking up" with the World Cup in South Korea, Paulo Bento did not take over the Chinese coach. After refusing the invitation, Paulo Bento even idle at home, prefer not to work. Until today, the latest news shows that Romano revealed that Paulo Bento will coach the Chinese team, affecting the next World Cup opponent UAE, and signed a contract for the 2026 World Cup!
The famous coach, who has coached in Chongqing of the Chinese Super League, knows Chinese soccer very well, and as the coach of the South Korean team, he knows the current state of Asian soccer very well. Turning down an invitation from the national soccer team to choose the UAE is also thought provoking. Both the national soccer team and the UAE failed to qualify for the last World Cup and the invitation to Bento was aimed at influencing the 2026 World Cup after expanding the army. The Portuguese clearly chose the side he thought was more likely!
Although both the UAE and China made it to the Asian Top 12 during the last World Qualifiers, China only finished second last in Group B while the UAE finished third in Group A. The UAE's success in the World Cup was due to the fact that they were the first team to qualify for the World Cup. Therefore, it is obvious that the UAE are more likely to make it to the next World Cup. It must be admitted that Paulo Bento's choice is deeply regrettable: was it his lack of confidence in the Chinese team?
