The Southeast Asian Championship saw four of Southeast Asia's strongest teams advance to the semifinals, while the Gulf States' Iraq Cup tournament saw eight nations battle it out and the top four come out on top. Fans know all too well that these tournaments are crucial for the Asian national teams to prepare for the 2023 Asian Cup. So what is China's team up to?
Dating back to last year, similar doubts have arisen. When FIFA scheduled national team matches in June and September 2022, the Chinese team did nothing. It's not that the FA and the national team didn't intend to prepare for the Asian Cup, but the reality of the outbreak put a mountain of pressure on the prevention of the epidemic, not to mention the international tournaments. As a result, training, including for the U23 national team, had to be put on hold.
In retrospect, frequent interruptions in the Chinese Super League (CSL) have impacted the national team's training. in the second half of 2022, for practical reasons, the national team did not organize training to ensure that the league went on smoothly. From a market perspective, it was clearly more rational to continue to fulfill the contract when the environment was difficult and investment was limited. As a result, the national team made sacrifices.
Before the management is clear, it is difficult for the CFA to do anything. Li Xiaopeng is still the head coach of the national team, only after the relevant parties clearly indicated that the national team is no longer by the "leadership of the working group" is responsible for, but by the CFA to take over, the Association can start the next stage of work. The national football team selection rumors, the outside world have questioned why the Football Association did not act early.
But the fact is that the situation facing the FA is more complex than ever. The epidemic has brought Chinese soccer's foreign exchanges to a standstill, making it difficult to maintain relationships and channels, and the selection of coaches may have to rely on agents. In the past, foreign coaches were overvalued, and the agent's "dishonorable" role is self-evident. As a result of this, foreign coaches offer high prices. Now, the national football team selection work restarted, all kinds of brokers will take advantage of the opportunity to make money.
However, the reality of Chinese soccer is that there is a shortage of funds and a lack of talent. The FA has been affected by the epidemic and can hardly afford high salaries, as in the case of foreign coaches hired after the 2002 World Cup. Although Camacho and Lippi had coached the Chinese team, their salaries were not fully borne by the FA, and the involvement of foreign forces also had a negative impact on management. This time, the FA hopes to self-finance the employment of foreign coaches to avoid repeating the same mistake. But "lack of money" has become a fact.
As for "no one", it naturally refers to the players. Insufficient reserves of good players, such as the Portuguese Queiroz (former coach of Iran) is the preferred choice of the Chinese Football Association, but the Qatar Football Association also want to invite him to coach. A team that has just participated in the World Cup, although the group stage of all three losses, but its young players have great potential; the other team has the oldest average age, 93-year-old player scored on his debut. Who would the coach prefer? The answer is self-evident.
Chinese soccer struggles to pay high salaries and the talent pool struggles to compete with Asian rivals. How to find the right coach? This is the reality of the challenge facing Chinese soccer! From the Football Association to long-term development, the reality is far from ideal. Therefore, so far no substantial news, also makes sense.
