The 24th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) is in full swing with a passionate 4-2 victory in Wuhan Sanzhen, and as the smoke clears, all the action comes to an end. The Chinese Super League is about to take a half-month break to make room for our soccer team to prepare for the Asian Games and World Cup qualifiers. In contrast, the upcoming group stage of the World Qualifying Tournament in November is particularly important, as they will directly determine whether our national team can successfully qualify for the Asian Top Ten. In order to prepare for these two key matches, national team head coach Jankovic has been visiting the Chinese Super League and frequently observing the performance of the international players of each team, with a view to discovering the potential of outstanding newcomers.
However, Jankovic has not yet taken over the national soccer team for a short period of time and has not been in charge of a Chinese Super League team, so it is not expected that there will be too many changes in the starting lineup of the new national team. Teams such as Shandong Taishan, Beijing Guoan, Shanghai Harbor and Wuhan Sanzhen will continue to anchor the international players. Shandong Taishan's Wang Dalei, Liu Binbin, Chen Pu; Beijing Guoan's Li Lei and Wang Ziming; Shanghai Seaport's Yan Junling, Zhang Lin, Jiang Guangtai, and Wang Shenchao, as well as Wuhan Sanzhen's players such as Liu Dianzuo, Gao Junyi, and Xie Pengfei are expected to be among the list of players for the national football team's warm-up matches in September. Of course, the new national team is not without changes. Yankovic's vision has appeared in the figure of some "newcomers", such as Zhang Xizhe and Li Ke of Guoan team.
After encountering the new coach Suarez's "cold reception", Zhang Xizhe returned to Guoan's debut, becoming the core of the team's midfield attack. In the recent league matches, Zhang Xizhe scored three goals, assisted twice, and created the opponent's oolong goal. Jankovic was naturally impressed by his performance. Since July, naturalized player Li Ke has returned to Guoan's main back position. His tough running, strong physique and excellent blocking ability have built an impenetrable barrier in front of Guoan's defense. In the offensive end, Li Ke also showed the style of the former Arsenal player, therefore, his return to the national team is growing calls. Apart from Li Ke, Shandong Taishan's naturalized player Fernando is also in the spotlight. However, Fernando has not yet recovered to his best form, and his fitness problems only allowed him to make a substitute appearance in the match against Shanghai Harbor. This situation may affect his selection to the national team. With the addition of the "newcomers", some of the "veterans" of the national football team will not be included in the new national team list. For example, Wuhan Sanzhen player Wei Shihao, who was banned for six matches by the FA for speaking out against referee Ma Ning in the league. As a rule, players penalized by the FA cannot be selected for the national team. Therefore, Wei Shihao will be excluded from the current national soccer team. Another international player without a place in the national team is Tianjin Jinmen Tiger's Tomorrow. He unfortunately broke his foot in the match against Shanghai Harbor and is out for the season and will not be able to return to the national football team in the short term. Wei Shihao's and tomorrow's positions will be filled by Shenhua's Wu Xi and Jinmen Tiger's Barton. These two players have been performing equally well in the league. It now appears that Jankovic will be fine-tuning the September national soccer team roster, further determining the starting lineup and substitutes for November's qualifying group stage by examining the international players' performances in the warm-up matches against Syria and Malaysia.
