On September 27, as the window set by FIFA for national team competitions came to an end from September 18 to 27, the beacon of Asian soccer still burns. According to the New People's Evening News, traditional powerhouses such as South Korea and Japan have embarked on an exciting warm-up campaign, while our national soccer team is still waiting outside the gates of international tournaments, seemingly stuck in a quagmire of self-doubt.
Looking back at our men's soccer team's performance in the World Cup qualifying round of 12, it was unsatisfactory, failing to qualify for the World Cup. This has brought the building of the national team to a near standstill this year, with the only bright spot being the participation of the Jankovic-coached U23 national soccer team in the East Asian Cup.
On the other hand, the South Korean and Japanese men's soccer teams have been exceptionally active on the international stage. during international competition at the end of September, the South Korean men's soccer team hosted Costa Rica and Cameroon and ended up with a 2-2 draw. The Japanese men's soccer team, on the other hand, defeated the United States 2-0 in Dusseldorf, Germany. Of the six Asian teams, hosts Qatar were the only ones to suffer a defeat, losing 0-2 against Canada.
The analysis of the New People's Evening News pointed out that after the World Qualifier, affected by multiple factors such as the epidemic and the league, China's Football Association did not organize the national team level matches, and seems to have lost confidence in soccer. Even the position of the team's head coach has not been properly resolved, which may be a major gap between our national football team and the strongest teams in Asia.
