The Chinese men's soccer team will face New Zealand in their second warm-up match today (March 26) at 11:00 am. Manager Jankovic has fine-tuned his starting lineup, with Shandong Taishan's Sun Guowen and Chen Pu expected to take their places in the new lineup. In terms of attacking power, Wu Lei is undoubtedly still Yankovic's choice, while whether new faces such as Barton and Zhang Jiaqi can steal the show will undoubtedly become a major point of interest.
Looking back at the first warm-up match, the national team shook hands with New Zealand 0-0, but missed good opportunities in 30 minutes. Wu Lei and Lin Liangming both missed out on goals, and Jankovic was unhappy with the draw. In view of the short interval between the two warm-up matches, Jankovic had announced before the match that he would rotate his squad.
In the goalkeeper position, Yan Junling had a solid performance to consolidate the starting position. Wang Dalei and Liu Dengzheng are both expected to make their debuts, and the two will compete for the second goalkeeper position. In the back line, the national football team has few center backs to choose from. Wei Zhen and Zhu Chenjie are the starters, while Li Shuai and Zhang Jiaqi will probably play on the bench. Considering that young players Wei Zhen and Zhu Chenjie are recovering fast, Jankovic is expected to keep the defense stable.
As for the wingbacks, Liu Yang and Zhang Linpeng both performed well in the first match, completing a full game. If there is a lineup rotation, Sun Guowen and Deng Hanwen are expected to debut, especially Sun Guowen, who had an eye-catching performance as a debutant of the national team. They are expected to make their national team debut in this match. In the midfield position, the combination of Wu Xi and Xu Xin is solid, while Zhang Jiaqi, He Chao and Wang Shangyuan can be used as rotation candidates.
Winger Liu Binbin and Wei Shihao make up the starting lineup, with Wei performing well. Lin Liangming and Xie Pengfei on the bench are also expected to enter the starting lineup. Wu Lei has a significant role as a striker, Chen Pu is expected to enter the starting lineup, while Barton can be used as a substitute for the striker.
