At 18:20 GMT on July 24, the Chinese men's soccer team and Japan started a fierce battle in the second round of the group stage of the East Asian Cup, and the two sides finally shook hands with a score of 0-0. After the match, Yankovic, the head coach of the national soccer selection team, said in an interview:
"If we had played better in the game, then victory might have been within our grasp."
Regarding the match, Jankovic further elaborated, "Against a strong opponent, our young team has learned many lessons after the match against Korea. Today, we improved our formation organization and defensive pressing. In the last match, we need to do better. If we can be more precise and decisive today, then this victory will be ours."
Speaking about the state of the team, Jankovic revealed: "We have a number of young players in the team and they still have shortcomings in terms of fitness, especially in the final stages of the game. I hope we can improve on that. Looking forward to the match against Hong Kong, China, our physical reserves can reach a new height."
