Fernando made his first career start as China met Singapore in a thrilling match. With his excellent individual skills and tacit teamwork, he made a breakthrough and created numerous threats on the field. In particular, the penalty he scored highlighted his outstanding overall performance. Recently, in the fierce Chinese Super League, Fernando was in top form when he scored a goal and assisted for Shandong Taishan, helping the team beat Cangzhou Lions by a large margin. However, Fernando's fitness is declining at the age of 30, and his playing time may only be limited to 60 minutes. Coach Ivankovic will have to think long and hard about how to utilize him efficiently, which is a challenge that cannot be ignored.
If Fernando temporarily replaces Wu Lei, finding a replacement for Li Yuanyi will be even more tricky for the national team, which is already short of manpower at the back of the midfield. Whether it's naturalized player Li Ke or homegrown player Xu Xin, they both seem to have failed to live up to outside expectations. As a result, Ivankovic may have to revisit his tactics and use localized numerical advantage to make up for the lack of overall strength. All in all, the national team's next match against Thailand is a battle that cannot be missed. Even if they are lucky enough to qualify, if they fail to win, all their efforts will be in vain.
