Asian Cup Football Team Performance Review
While the knockout rounds of the Asian Cup are approaching, our national soccer team has embarked on a return trip to enjoy the reunion of the Chinese New Year. Their journey through the group stage has resulted in three wins, two draws, and one loss, with no results and the worst record in team history. Nonetheless, by virtue of advancing to the last 24 of the Asian Cup, they still reaped a substantial bonus - $200,000, or about 1.43 million yuan - and each player was able to share tens of thousands of dollars in income.
According to the AFC, even if a team fails to qualify from the group stage, it will receive a minimum guaranteed bonus of $200,000 dollars. If the team performs better, the prize money will be increased accordingly. The team that reaches the semi-finals takes home $1 million, the runner-up $3 million, and the winner $5 million. This mechanism is designed to motivate players to perform at their best.
At the end of the group stage, our national soccer team finished in a record low of 18th place. What is even more regrettable is that against Qatar, who only needed a draw to advance, the opponents failed to field their core players for most of the match. The fans were angered by the missed opportunities.
Beijing Youth Daily reports that our national soccer team is about to fall to 13th place in the Asian rankings, the worst record in recent years. Third-ranked teams such as Bahrain and Jordan are also outperforming our country. it remains to be seen whether our national soccer team will be able to turn things around for the world qualifiers in March.
The end of the Asian Cup, Yankovic head coach has become a target, the domestic media have called for his dismissal, Cui Kangxi, Xu Zhengyuan, Qiaodi and other popular candidates. Well-known sports reporter Ma Dexing revealed the inside story of Jankovic's appointment, saying that the top management of the Football Association made a hasty decision to promote the head coach of the Asian Games team directly to the head coach of the national team, which became a wrong decision.
According to Madsen, it may not be fair to blame Jankovic for the failure of the national soccer team. The FA decided to promote Jankovic to head coach at the Foshan selection meeting last year, but there were already questions at the time. It is worth mentioning that the leader of the FA, Du Zhaocai, was taken away for review in early April last year, suspected of serious violations of the law and disciplinary actions.
It seems only a matter of time before Jankovic steps down, and there are concerns about his ability to continue to lead the team in the World Qualifiers. A hasty change of manager may not be able to refresh the national team. If Jankovic is in charge and ultimately fails to qualify for the 18-team tournament, the FA will bear a huge responsibility. Song Kai, the new FA president, is under tremendous pressure to weigh the pros and cons and make the best choice.
