The candidates will be current head coach Li Xiaopeng, and current Asian Games team head coach Yankovic has not ruled out the possibility that the two might join forces, perhaps the two might join forces
According to the official information of the Chinese Football Association, the Chinese men's football and Chinese men's Asian Games team will go to New Zealand in late March, with the New Zealand national team, the New Zealand national team cooperation U23 national team for two warm-up matches. Beijing Youth Daily reporter was informed on the 5th, by the price of cooperation, cooperation concept, cooperation willingness and other factors, the CFA can not hire a suitable "new face" to take over the national football team in the short term. Therefore, responsible for the March team training and warm-up team work candidates will be in the current coach Li Xiaopeng, the current Chinese men's Asian Games Serbian coach Jankovic between the two hand in hand with the possibility of leading the team also exists.
There's been a lot of speculation lately
None of them are ideal.
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) started preparing the national soccer team for the new cycle from the second half of the year, after the Qatar World Preliminary Tour ended at the end of March last year. The CFA preferred a foreign coach familiar with Asian soccer, Ola Royo and Paulo Bento, Schmidt and Queiroz were among the candidates.
Some media recently reported that the Chinese Super League (CSL) Chengdu Chengdu South Korean coach Xu Zhengyuan and Zhejiang Spanish coach Jordi were also in the running for the national soccer team. However, this is not the case, and neither of the two aforementioned Chinese Super League coaches are ideal candidates for the Chinese Football Association.
Leads to a range of problems
FA hesitant to select manager
As the national soccer team will visit New Zealand for two international A-level warm-up matches in late March this year, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) can only solve the emergency by "digging inside". It is worth noting that both Li Xiaopeng and Jankovic were present at the national team's preparatory meeting in Haikou last December. But it was not until the end of the meeting that the answer to the question of who will lead the national soccer team next was officially confirmed. The soccer association has yet to give a final answer.
Since then, Chen Yongliang, the executive deputy secretary-general of the CFA, who is responsible for the work of the national men's soccer team, has accepted the review and investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Group of the State General Administration of Sport and the Hubei Supervisory Committee on suspicion of a serious violation of discipline and law, which in fact adversely affects the preparations for the new cycle of the national soccer team. It is in the context of the above series that Li Xiaopeng and Jankovic became the main choices of the FA.
When do you pick a new foreign coach?
It depends on the preparation
But the federation is still struggling, and in the case of Jankovic, who, as the current coach of China's men's Asian Games, has been the coach of the 1999 men's soccer team (now the men's Asian Games team) since January 2019, a change in role could affect the preparation of the Asian Games team if the Hangzhou Asian Games soccer tournament begins, if he takes on the role of coach of the national soccer team and the men's Asian Games in conjunction with the failures of Dujkovic. Jankovic could also lead to coaching failure. Considering the possibilities involved, the CCA even considered looking for another coach to take over the Asian Games team, allowing Jankovic to focus on leading the national soccer team.
Yankovic is currently in Foshan, leading the men's Asian Games team in their first training session of the new year. Before the start of the training, he has communicated with the CFA about the work of the leadership team. It is understood that Jankovic said that he will obey the CFA's work arrangement. A new national soccer training program and some coach selection plans have been drawn up, and the choice can only be made recently by the main leaders of the CFA.
Since the 2026 WC Asian 36 and the 2023 Asian Cup will not start until the fourth quarter of 2023, Li Xiaopeng, Yang Kovic, and others may play the role of "transitional coaches" in the training and warm-up matches in March. As to whether the future national soccer team will be led by a foreign coach and when to choose a new foreign coach, the Chinese Football Association will take into account the team's preparation and warm-ups in March and other relevant factors.
