As the 2026 FIFA World Cup preliminaries approached, on October 20, Beijing time, our national soccer team was caught in a predicament of difficult to win warm-up matches. Even on Song Kai's first day at the helm of the Football Association, Jankovic's team was defeated by the Uzbekistan men's soccer team, a reversal that puts pressure on Song Kai and his new leadership team. The Uzbekistan men's soccer team is a second-rate team in Asia, but their performance was so different from that of the Chinese men's soccer team that our team was able to adopt a defense-to-attack strategy, which was extremely passive. The 3-23 goal difference between the two teams can be visualized.
After the match, the coach of the Uzbekistan men's soccer team was outspoken, saying that the country's men's soccer team did not pose a threat, believing that it was on the same level as the Vietnamese men's soccer team.
It has been reported that the State General Administration of Sports has issued a directive to Songkai for both men's and women's soccer to achieve the predetermined goals. The women's soccer team needs to prepare for the Paris Olympics qualifiers, while the men's soccer team needs to go all out in the world qualifiers and try to get a ticket for the 2026 World Cup.
Currently, the situation of our men's soccer team is worrying to the fans. The 44 international players selected by Jankovic had a mediocre performance in the warm-up matches, which can only be evaluated as "fair".
Yankovic's selection and tactical ability has been questioned, and the Korean media even considers him a third-rate coach who lacks sufficient ability. Korean coach Choi Kang-hee is expected to become the new head of our men's soccer team. The Football Association is optimistic that Choi Kang-hee, as a famous coach in the Chinese Super League, knows Asian soccer well and can work well with the Association. Previously due to salary and other issues did not reach an agreement, Choi Kang-hee offer is high, the Association needs to be carefully considered.
Song Kai quickly interviewed Serbian coach Jankovic after his appointment. Given that the World Qualifiers are about to start in November, and the AFC has released an updated statement, our men's soccer team will challenge the Thai men's soccer team away from home on November 16th at 20:30hrs. Therefore, changing the coach seems too hasty. Jankovic still has a chance to lead the team, but the result of the match will decide whether he stays or goes.
In order to ensure the performance of the national soccer team, Song Kai specifically entrusted Gao Hongbo's committee with the responsibility. Gao Hongbo has held management positions in the Football Association, and now serves as technical director with Song Kai's support, with overall responsibility for the national team and coach training. It has been noted in the media that if the national soccer team performs poorly in the first match of the World Qualifiers, the federation will immediately fire Jankovic and consider inviting Choi Kang-hee or Gao Hongbo to take over.
Gao Hongbo is very familiar with China's men's soccer team, leading the team in 38 matches during his two coaching stints, with 23 wins, 11 draws and 4 losses, a win rate of 60%. The ranking of the national soccer team also rose from 108th to 69th in the world, reflecting Gao Hongbo's ability. However, the golden dollar soccer policy under Cai Zhenhua led to Gao's dismissal.
Famous soccer player Fan Zhiyi expressed regret that Gao Hongbo was quickly dismissed, and firmly believed that Gao Hongbo could lead the team to achieve good results. Fan also talked about the Football Association and hoped that the Association would hire people who really understand soccer and avoid the turnover of the leadership of the Association in the past decades. The gap between Chinese soccer and Japan and South Korea shows that we need to understand the nature of soccer in the first place and should not change blindly.
Japanese men's soccer coaches can even beat strong European teams in warm-up matches. We expect Song Kai to adjust his strategy in time to avoid wasting resources on coaching candidates, and invite coaches who are familiar with Asian soccer and have rich experience, which may be a feasible path.
