Ivankovic takes charge of national soccer team as it prepares for back-to-back tests in Singapore
Ivankovic officially stepped into the coaching chair of the national football team and the first challenge he faced was to shortlist the new national team squad in order to be fully prepared for the two key qualifiers against Singapore in March.
Officials revealed that the national football team will play away against Singapore on March 21, followed by a home match against Singapore on March 26 at the Tianjin Olympic Sports Center. The FA deliberately arranged the key battle in Tianjin, expecting the national football team to regain its former glory in this "blessed land", replicating the feat of 6-1 victory over Singapore in 2013, thus successfully advancing into the World Cup 18.
Looking back to 2013, the national football team is in Tianjin to beat Singapore by 6-1, when Camacho was dismissed, Fu Bo was appointed to save the day. The FA chose Tianjin in the hope that the national football team can continue this legend and write another brilliant story.
However, relying on the "blessed land" alone will not be enough to ensure that the national soccer team advances successfully. If Ivankovic wants to lead the team into the World Cup, he must make adjustments to the lineup and bring in fresh blood. The Asian Cup exposed the shortcomings of the attack of the national football team needs to be solved.
The Asian Cup group stage of the national football team grain, not won a game, the performance of the midfielders and front players is disappointing. Ivankovic on the second day of his tenure, live to watch the Super Cup, but disappointed with the performance of the top scorer Wu Lei.
As a result, Ivankovic may promote two young players, Wei Shihao and Lin Liangming, to replace Wu Lei, whose form is slipping, and partner Zhang Yuning, as well as adjust the back position to inject new vitality into the team. Players such as Li Yuanyi and Li Tixiang are expected to be the replacements for Wu Xi and Wang Qiuming in the starting lineup.
It is worth mentioning that although Wu Lei won the Golden Ball Award again, he confessed in his acceptance speech that he was ashamed of the award because the national football team has not performed well in recent years, and the Asian Cup ranking is only located in the second rate. Nonetheless, Wu Lei is still confident of helping the national soccer team to enter the top 18 of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, but Ivankovic is afraid that the road to promotion will be full of challenges if he insists on the existing lineup.
