The 2022 Chinese Super League is over. At present, the only thing left in Chinese soccer is the FA Cup champion, and the answer has not yet been announced. However, when the time enters 2023 and Chinese national teams are blowing the rallying cry, people suddenly realize that the Chinese men's soccer team is still waiting for a handsome position. With the lesson of Li Tie, the CFA will undoubtedly be cautious in selecting coaches. Various signs indicate that the current CFA has put the choice of the new coach of the national football team on the foreign coach, but it is likely that the resignation of Li Xiaopeng guide may still have his unfinished mission.
According to the preparation plan of the Chinese men's national soccer team, the National Football Association officially assembled in early February and traveled to New Zealand for training in March. The Chinese Football Association also intends to invite European teams to participate in warm-up matches between China and the national soccer team. From the current situation, it is unrealistic for the national soccer team to complete the coach selection in a short period of time. In order to avoid the national soccer team's overseas training being affected by the coach selection, Li Xiaopeng may temporarily lead the team as the technical director or the head of the Chinese coaching team.
Now that China's u17 and u20 year old men's soccer teams have begun their New Year's training, the lack of results for the adult national team's coaching candidates is inevitably a cause for concern. As a matter of fact, since last November, the Chinese Football Association has officially started the selection of the Chinese men's soccer team. According to Football Daily, there are three plans, one is Yang Kovic, the head coach of the 1999 national team, and Li Xiaopeng, who will continue to serve as the head coach of the national team after the Asian Games; and the third one is to choose an excellent foreign coach, giving priority to foreign coaches who are familiar with Asian soccer or Chinese soccer.
At the beginning of December last year, the CFA organized national teams at all levels, including the national soccer team, to attend a preparatory work conference, and the current national soccer coach Li Xiaopeng was also invited to attend. After continuous argumentation and discussion, the direction of selecting coaches for national soccer has undergone new changes - the plan of Yankovic as the head coach of the national team and Asian Games was rejected, and the criteria for selecting foreign coaches have been made clearer, such as giving priority to coaches who are familiar with or have a basic understanding of Chinese soccer, or coaches who are familiar with Asian soccer. At the same time, a comprehensive examination of the new foreign coach's familiarity with and understanding of China's national conditions, including management and communication can have more common language. As for Li Xiaopeng, he has been recognized by the CFA and he may become the technical director of the national team or the head of the Chinese coaching team to prepare for the national soccer team's preparation for the New Year. As to whether the new coach can stay in his post after taking office, I am afraid we can only get the answer at that time.
According to the selection criteria of the CFA, there are not many outstanding foreign coaches who are familiar with Asian soccer and experience in leading major international tournaments: Paulo Bento, the Portuguese coach who coached at Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic in the Chinese Super League and South Korea, leading South Korea to the last 16 of the World Cup in Qatar; he has been coaching in Asia since 2007. He led the Saudi Arabia national team to participate in the 2015 Asian Cup and led Jiangsu Suning to win the Chinese Super League title; Serbia coach Stojkovic, who had led Guangzhou City to play wonderful attacking soccer; Portugal coach Queiroz, who led Iran to the Qatar World Cup; and Lenard, who had served as an assistant to French coach Leroy to join COSCO in Shanghai, and is now in charge of the Saudi Arabia coach in India, are likely to enter the CFA's vision. However, if you want to choose a favorite foreign coach, in addition to treatment and other related conditions, you also need to face the competition from other Asian national team rivals. According to media reports, Paul is a popular candidate for the new coach - Bento and Lenal have entered the list of the Polish Football Association, which has also initiated the process of changing the manager.
Despite the difficulties, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) has already started the relevant work. According to Soccer Daily, the FA has started communicating with relevant candidates. Of course, in general, former South Korean coach Paulo Bento is the most suitable candidate. He led South Korea into the top 16 at the just-concluded World Cup in Qatar. Despite this result being recognized by the Korean Football Association and Korean fans, he did not choose to renew his contract with the KFA. Paul is South Korea's longest serving manager - Bento had four full years of World Cup preparation cycles, which also benefited South Korea. Korea's progress under his leadership is also evident. All of this should be a lesson to the CFA - build on the achievements of the national team over the past four years and work tirelessly to develop a long-term plan focused on the 2026 World Cup. After all, with the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico set to expand to 48 teams, the CFA is keen for the national soccer team to return to the World Cup stage through an expanded World Cup.
Notably, in early December last year, South Korean media outlet Chosun Ilbo reported that a person close to the CFA had contacted Paulo Bento through the organization to propose that he coach the Chinese national team. While the exact terms have yet to be finalized, the annual salary was reportedly around 2 billion won (about $1.6 million). At the time, Bento neither affirmed nor denied the offer. After all, he had many offers besides the Chinese team and the Portuguese was waiting for the price.
In addition, last September, the UAE Sharjah coach Ola Royo also responded to the rumors of entering the Chinese men's football team in an interview with the UAE media. Olaroyo said that he still has a one-year contract with Sharjah FC. He has always respected this contract and just wants to focus on taking care of the current team. But Olaroyo also said, "I am honored to coach the Chinese team in the future."
According to the FIFA calendar, the first international men's soccer match day of 2023 is scheduled for March 20th to 28th. During this period, member association teams will be able to participate in two international warm-up matches, and the Chinese team will also play warm-up matches during this period, which will be the official debut of the Chinese men's soccer team in the New Year. The most important task for the Chinese Men's Football Team in 2023 is to participate in the second stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asia Qualifying Tournament starting in November 2023 for the Top 36 teams. The challenge for the Chinese men's soccer team has actually begun since the beginning of this year in order to achieve an amazing performance at the end of this year!
