On June 7, the latest edition of the national soccer team's lineup was unveiled, and Eastern Sports Daily was quick to capture the hotspot with an in-depth analysis of Jankovic's strategic thinking when it comes to selecting players.
Jankovic has rearranged the 24-man squad for the national team. At first glance, new faces such as Wang Ziming, Li Lei, Wang Qiuming, Tomorrow, Wang Shenchao and Gao Junyi are eye-catching, but in fact, they have long been regulars on the national team roster, just missing out on the last training session for some reason.
Despite the ongoing skepticism about the strength of the Chinese team, which is considered to be a far cry from Myanmar and Palestine, Jankovic, the new head coach, knows that any carelessness is not desirable against a team that desperately needs a win to boost its morale.
For the Chinese team, which is preparing for the 36-team Asian Zone tournament in the second half of the year and the 2023 Asian Cup, the two international A matches against Myanmar and Palestine are undoubtedly the key to boosting the points in the FIFA rankings, which is the team's top priority.
Of the 24 players on the national team, excluding the three goalkeepers, there are as many as 13 midfielders, even as wing-backs such as Deng Hanwen, Gao Junyi, Sun Guowen, Wang Shenchao, Tomorrow and Li Lei are known for their excellent attacking ability in the Chinese Super League.
From this, Jankovic's strategy is to clearly focus on offense. In the face of such opponents as Myanmar and Palestine, insisting on retaining the "Wu Lei + Aixon" pair of front-line combination, which had overcome all obstacles in the last Asian qualifying 12, is undoubtedly a well-considered decision by him.
