Our national team suffered a setback in the latest edition of the Asian Cup campaign, with a seeming disagreement between some of the team's naturalized players and manager Jankovic, a situation that may potentially impact the national team's buildup for this edition.
According to the Daily News, Ivankovic's first training session after taking over will kick off today at the Guangming Base in Shenzhen. With players reporting for duty, the Chinese team will begin tactical drills that are closer to the real world. Ivan is said to have spoken highly of the Shandong Taishan players, not only because he has played here, but also because they have shown excellent athleticism in terms of fitness and offense-defense transition thanks to the AFC Champions League. In contrast, those players who lacked AFC Champions League experience and had fewer recent matches were clearly lacking in performance.
The failure of Tan Long, 36, and Wu Xi, 35, to make the list may foreshadow the trend of rejuvenation in our soccer. They are about to face the challenge of major tournaments and therefore need to remain consistent and avoid impatience. Of course, considering that the Chinese Super League has only just begun its first round of matches, the selection of players is inevitably limited. Even if the current performance of international players is not satisfactory, as long as they meet the league standard and have the right attitude, they still have the opportunity to play for their country in the future.
In this edition of the list, three naturalized players, Fernando, Ekson and Li Ke, are once again in the national team uniform. Last year, Fernando missed the national team's buildup and tournaments due to injury; Eckerson was dropped due to his poor form; and Li Ke was publicly removed from the team due to his tardiness, but now the three of them are under the spotlight. The relationship between some of the naturalized players and Jankovic seems to have come to an end, and the repercussions of this incident may even spill over into the upcoming start of the national team training, and the training roster may need to be adjusted accordingly.
