In Beijing on February 25, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) unveiled heavy news to the public: Croatian head coach Ivankovic will take over the coaching whip of the Chinese men's football team.
Immediately afterward, Ivankovic took to his personal social media platforms to show a poster of the Chinese team's coach, which boldly reads: "New big challenge!
Branko Ivankovic, a veteran UEFA professional coach. In his past coaching career, he was in charge of Hannover 96 of Germany, Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia, as well as the national men's soccer teams of Iran and Oman. Notably, in 2010, he led Shandong Luneng Taishan to the Chinese Super League title.
According to the established plan, Ivankovic will go to Shanghai on February 25 to watch the Super Cup "Shanghai Derby", and return to Croatia that night for visa matters. He is expected to return to China in early March at the earliest, to join the preparation for the Chinese Super League. It is worth mentioning that he will be supported by four Croatian assistant coaches, including assistant coach Mario Tokić. Zhang Yu, former Shenhua coach and interpreter of 1989 Croatian star Blažević, will also serve as Ivanković's full-time interpreter during his coaching stint with the Chinese national team.
With only half a month to go before the national soccer team reassembles in early March, it will be difficult for Ivankovic to get to know each player in depth in such a short period of time. Therefore, the training lineup of the new national team will rely heavily on the recommendations of the Chinese coaching team, and the specific candidates may be different from the Asian Cup lineup.
