[RazorSpeed Sports] On June 12, a heavy news sparked a buzz on social media: the upcoming match between the national team and Myanmar will witness a touching retirement ceremony to pay tribute to the former captain Zheng Zhi. It is reported that the ceremony will be staged on the 16th.
Soccer Daily further revealed that the Chinese national team regrouped in Dalian on the 11th to kick off the preparation mode. According to the schedule, the team will face Myanmar and Palestine on the 16th and 20th at the Barracuda Bay Professional Football Stadium in Dalian, which is both a training and warm-up for the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers. Reporters noted that the team will hold a retirement ceremony for Zheng Zhi during the match on the 16th.
Statistics show that Zheng Zhi has played 108 games for the national team. At club level, he played the final game of his league career on January 1, 2022, in the 21st round of the 2021 season, when Guangzhou played Changchun Yatai. Although Zheng Zhi remained on the roster that season, he did not play. After Jankovic took the helm of the national team in 2023, Zheng transitioned to an assistant coach.
Why choose now to hold a retirement ceremony? Soccer Daily gave the answer: "China's Football Association has been committed to holding ceremonies or awarding jerseys to retired international players in recent years to enhance the players' sense of national honor. Unfortunately, affected by the epidemic, the national team's most recent international appearance at home has been the World Preliminary Asian 40 in May 2021, when Zheng Zhi was still a player. Since becoming coach, the national team has yet to host a match at home, which makes the ceremony for Zheng Zhi a necessity."
