The Chinese men's soccer team is scheduled to gather in Dalian on Aug. 18 to warm up for the Sept. 5 away match against Japan and the Sept. 10 home showdown with Saudi Arabia, according to a set agenda, Beijing Youth Daily revealed.
Returning from vacation, head coach Ivankovic will depart from Zagreb, Croatia, on the afternoon of the 12th and return to Beijing via Doha, Qatar, to begin preparing for a new round of training and commanding the two 18-team tournaments. It is reported that the coaching team will absorb new faces for each of the three lines.
Ivankovic had already deployed an exhaustive 18-team preparation strategy on June 27, and the first task upon his return was to quickly finalize the new training squad.
Recently, Hou Yongyong, a former Beijing Guoan naturalized player who played in the Norwegian First Division (second tier), made it clear via social media platforms that he is still a Chinese citizen and has no intention of changing his nationality. This news was also made known to Croatia's Ivankovic. He stated, "I have followed the player and continue to keep an eye on his developments."
The Norwegian First Division will restart on July 20, and the national soccer team will pay close attention to Hou Yongyong's performance. Once recognized by the coaching staff, the CFA will need to discuss the call-up with the Langheim club where Hou Yongyong is based. After all, the national team will be assembled on August 18, while the China-Japan match is scheduled to start on September 5th. Even if Hou Yongyong has the strength and conditions to be selected for the national team, he still needs to agree with the club and make reasonable arrangements to return to the team.
Wu Shaocong, who also plays in Europe, has also caught Ivan's attention. Although Wu Shaocong has decided to leave Turkey's first division Youth United Club and will soon join a Polish league club, his inability to play due to the Euroleague break has created an observation problem for the national coaching staff.
Currently, the main challenge facing Ivankovic is the striker selection. One of his most favored winger candidates, Zhang Yuning, has recovered well from his injury and has participated in some of the joint practices with Guoan, and is expected to join the team for the Shanghai Harbour team's away matches. Fernando, another explosive player, has missed two consecutive rounds of the Chinese Super League due to objective factors. Ivan is highly concerned about this issue and expects Fernando to return to the field soon.
According to the plan, the foreign assistant coaches of the national soccer coaching team will return to China on July 8th. Since the current round of the league, Zheng Zhi and other Chinese coaches have been assisting the head coach in scouting players. After Ivankovic's return, the coaching staff will discuss the list of candidate players in depth.
