In the middle of the week, the national soccer team is about to embark on a new round of World Cup qualifiers that has attracted a lot of attention. At this critical moment, head coach Yang Kovic also candidly shared a number of thoughts about the tournament in an interview. Talking about the target, Yang Kovic bluntly said that he led the Chinese team to have only one goal - to go straight to the World Cup final round, and said that he will do his best to qualify in this qualifying tournament.
Jankovic also discusses the opportunities presented by the reform of the 2026 World Cup. In contrast to the previous experience of being eliminated in every qualifying round, the four rounds of qualifying offer the possibility of "resurrection" (second place in the group with a good result), so the chances of the national football team to qualify have increased significantly. At the same time, the substantial increase in the number of qualification places in the Asian region (8.5), also brings new hope for the national football team. Based on these favorable factors, Jankovic is confident in his team's ability to lead the national football team to a good result.
For both Thailand and South Korea, Jankovic arranged for his assistants to conduct in-depth analysis. Especially at the technical and tactical level, they brought in numerous Thai teams from Europe for training and observed the performance of Korean stars in the top five leagues. Through repeated research and honing, they have grasped valuable information at the technical and tactical level. These could be powerful weapons for the national soccer team's preparation. Interestingly, Jankovic revealed that he had already prepared the relevant tactics but was reluctant to reveal the details in the interview. It seems that the secrecy is quite well done.
From the many interviews with Jankovic, this coaching staff does have a unique "style". They pay special attention to the collection of information, and after obtaining the information, they make targeted arrangements. Prior to this, Jankovic also firmly chose Zhang Yuning as the starting center forward instead of the naturalized player Ekerson. According to reports, this decision stems from his trust in information. One can see Jankovic's personality in this.
Hopefully, this style and access to information will really help the national soccer team to play to its strengths and make up for its weaknesses in terms of technical and tactical skills. We look forward to seeing the "Koi Fish" lead the team in preparation for the preliminaries.
Jankovic also talked about his pressure. He said that coaching the national soccer team is a blessing for him, but also a great pressure. In a country of 1.4 billion people, leading a team with a lot of problems to stand out is not an easy task. Fortunately, he has a relatively reliable team of assistants who can make up for the shortcomings through various aspects. It is evident that Young has full trust in his assistants.
Prior to this, Djurdjevic, who has led the men's Asian Football Team to success in the Asian Games, has repeatedly communicated with Jankovic and has a consistent understanding of Chinese soccer, which is in line with the green cause. In any case, this week's match with Thailand will fully demonstrate the preparation and strength of the national football team, as well as the possibility of advancing to the next round and the World Cup finals will also have a clear answer.
As the saying goes, if it's a mule or a horse, pull it out and see.
