After a ten-month wait, the Chinese men's soccer team welcomed a new head coach at the end of March 2022.The new face of the team, 50-year-old Serbian coach Jankovic, will take charge of the national soccer team. The new face, 50-year-old Serbian coach Jankovic, will be at the helm of the national football team.Jankovic will make his official debut by leading the team in a friendly match against New Zealand on March 23 in Auckland, New Zealand.
Although the Serbian was not the first choice of the CFA, after some twists and turns, Jankovic finally stood out as the new coach of the national football team. Before, the CFA had communicated with several coaches, but either the other party has no intention, or treatment requirements are too high. Jankovic's appointment marks the reappearance of the principle of "use familiar and not raw" in the selection of the national football team.
It is worth mentioning that Jankovic was the head coach of the U19 national youth team before becoming the head coach of the national soccer team. He managed his players' fitness and diet strictly, insisting on running 10 kilometers a day and stipulating that players with a body fat percentage of more than 10 percent would be disqualified.
Jankovic's soccer philosophy emphasizes attitude and teamwork. He believes that players should not only be highly skilled, but also resilient. Under his leadership, the team focuses on physical confrontation and self-discipline, and strives to excel in both offense and defense.
Despite the limited strength of the national soccer team before Jankovic's arrival, insiders generally believe that if he can develop some young players in the team who can develop in the European league, he can be regarded as a "great contribution" to Chinese soccer.
In the 2022 East Asian Cup, Jankovic has begun to "change blood" for the national football team. Although the team lost 3:1 to South Korea in the first match, the national football team drew 0:0 with Japan in the following match. Yankovic said after the game that if the team could do better on the offensive end, they could even get three points.
Now, Jankovic will lead the national soccer team to prepare for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and the 2023 Asian Cup. Let's wait and see if this new manager can bring changes to Chinese soccer.
