As night falls, the Chinese men's soccer team will face Uzbekistan in their final match before the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers. This evening, the national soccer team's head coach Yang Kovic appeared at the pre-match press conference along with assistant coach Zhu Chenjie.
In earlier warm-up matches, China drew with Malaysia and defeated Syria, but then regained their winning momentum with a 2-0 victory over Vietnam. Such results bring new challenges for both the coaching team and the players. Facing Uzbekistan, the team needs to capitalize on this crucial warm-up opportunity. It is envisioned that this clash with Vietnam will be like the match against Thailand in the 36-team tournament, while tomorrow's confrontation with Uzbekistan will be like facing South Korea at home.
At the press conference, Jankovic revealed that after winning the match, the philosophy delivered by the coaching team is easier to penetrate into the hearts of the people and the players learn better with positive motivation. He emphasized that the team needs to improve the stability of the defense and rehearsed the offensive strategy, hoping to test the results of training through the match with Uzbekistan.
Since Jankovic took the helm of the national soccer team, the team has adopted more of a three-center defense system. Jankovic pointed out that no team in the world soccer world is limited to one formation, and teams need to balance the two defense systems and deploy them flexibly.
"In modern soccer, no team can stick to just one formation, at least two. And it is much more common to switch formations on the fly during the same game. We prepared two different formations with fixed fits in both offense and defense. I'm glad to see that the players were able to accept and learn quickly. The three or four backs will be based on the specifics of the game."
Zhu Chenjie's presence at the conference sends a signal that he will start in tomorrow's game. In the interview, Zhu Chenjie said that he is in good physical condition, has practiced the defensive tactics according to the coach's requirements, and expects to play tomorrow.
"After a few days of hard training, we are ready to go and looking forward to tomorrow's match. We hope that under the guidance of our coaches, we will be able to fully demonstrate our tactical intentions and contribute to this exciting showdown. We have practiced our defensive skills and tactics to cope with the height and size of the opposing players. After recovery, I feel in good shape and will give my best."
The warm-up match was the final warm-up match for the national soccer team in the Asian zone of the 2026 World Qualification Tournament, as well as the one-month point in the countdown to the 36-team tournament. Considering that the draw was not ideal, with Thailand, South Korea and Singapore/Guam in the same group, the national soccer team has a tight time frame for the remaining preparations.
Today, the national football team's November training location and home field for the first world qualifying match were also basically determined. According to media reports, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) has basically decided to use Shenzhen as the venue for the final 36 home matches, as the away match against Thailand (Nov. 16) and the home match against South Korea (Nov. 21) are only five days apart.
Given the ease of transportation, the national football team will return to Shenzhen as soon as the 17th after the match against Thailand to quickly get into the preparation for the match against South Korea. Meanwhile, given the similar climatic conditions in Shenzhen and Bangkok, the training location in Shenzhen will help the team prepare for the match against Thailand.
It is reported that the Shenzhen Football Association has reached a preliminary consensus on cooperation in organizing the game, and actively undertake the first home game of the National Football League 36, the Shenzhen Universiade Center Stadium as the preferred venue for the game between China and South Korea.
Time flies and there is only one month left before the national soccer team embarks on its journey to the 2026 World Cup. And tomorrow night's match against Uzbekistan will determine whether the national soccer team can show its momentum and continue its winning momentum?
