Rumors are flying that China's men's soccer team will kick off a new training session next January. According to the exclusive news of the Beijing Youth Daily, the competition schedules of the domestic club leagues at all levels as well as the AFC Cup may be adjusted at any time due to a variety of objective factors. For example, the organizers are considering advancing the 3rd round of the AFC Cup to mid-December. If this plan comes true, the end date of this season's Chinese Super League may be postponed from the scheduled December 27th to December 31st.
Currently, after much negotiation, the 2022 season of the F.A.C.A. Cup will be wrapped up across the year no matter what, with the final tentatively scheduled for January 15, 2023. Considering that the Lunar New Year's Eve is on January 21 next year, professional international players need to reunite with their families during the Spring Festival holiday, so the Chinese men's football team may regroup as early as after the Spring Festival, i.e., at the end of January or the beginning of February.
On the topic of the selection of the national football team, there is no definite answer yet. On the one hand, local coach Li Xiaopeng has fulfilled the signing process when he took over the team, and if the management decides not to renew the contract, the termination process must be followed. On the other hand, the national team's future restructuring program needs to be fully considered by the CFA and coordinated with all levels of the national team's team building program. Prior to the introduction of the specific plan, the discussion on the reorganization of the national football team is limited to the industry.
Given the performance of the Chinese team in the Qatar World Qualifier and the current state of development of the national team, hiring a foreign coach who is familiar with Asian soccer, especially the Chinese men's soccer team, may be a rational choice. However, the determination of the specific candidate is affected by multiple factors such as the candidate's coaching ability, experience, and cost. Judging from the current domestic soccer environment, it is impossible for the CFA to pursue the so-called famous coaches regardless of the cost. As for the Asian Games team manager Yankovic's name, it has also appeared in the internal discussions of the FA, but there is no conclusion yet about whether he will take over the coaching of the national soccer team.
With the postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games to September-October next year, the 2026 World Qualifying Tournament for Asia will kick off on October 9 next year. The 2nd stage of the qualifiers, i.e. the first 2 rounds of the 36-team tournament, will be held from November 13 to 21 next year, while the 3rd and 4th rounds are scheduled from March 18 to 26, 2024. This means that the Hangzhou Asian Games, the new World Qualifier and the Asian Cup will be played intensively, and some of the tournaments will also be played in a crossover manner. In terms of the nature of preparation and the importance of the task, it may not be reasonable to have Jankovic doing both.
China's choice of manager will also be closely related to the situation of their opponents in major tournaments such as the World Qualifiers and the Asian Cup. With the 2023 Asian Cup likely to be postponed to January 2024, international rankings will have a significant impact on the results of the national football team's groupings in the tournaments. If the new manager can quickly understand the opponents, this will be conducive to the subsequent coaching work.
