On the eve of Teachers' Day in 2023, at the Phoenix Mountain Football Stadium in Chengdu, the Chinese men's football team welcomed the international football friendly match with Malaysia. After 90 minutes of fighting, Jankovic led his disciples to hand over a 1-1 "passing paper" to the national fans. In fact, it is a bit far-fetched to say that the performance of the national football team is "passing". After all, in the past 15 meetings between the two sides, the Chinese men's team has won 13 of them, with the only loss dating back 43 years, and the last draw was 25 years ago. What's more, there is a gap of up to 50 places in the FIFA world ranking between the two teams.
Even though there are 11 naturalized players in this Malaysian squad in China, they are no longer Wu Xia Amun, who have improved rapidly. But for Chinese fans who have just tasted the taste of the U15 East Asian Cup, a draw with Malaysia is still unacceptable. In the post-match press conference, Jankovic also expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the internationals. The day before this match, Jankovic was still talking about the goal of the World Cup in front of a group of media, and in the blink of an eye, he was forced to draw by the former Southeast Asian fishbelly troops, and Yang Shuai can be said to have suffered a light-speed slap in the face.
Jankovic said in the post-match press conference: "We didn't play well in the first half, specifically because of unbalanced attack and defense, lack of motivation and poor emotional control. In the second half we did create chances and added consistency, but football is not magic, you can get back in shape and score goals. From a football point of view, we don't deserve to win. It was a useful game for me, to learn lessons and look forward. Thank you to the fans for supporting the team, sorry for not winning this game and apologize to them. Hopefully, there will be a rebound in three days. ”
From the press conference, he can see that Jankovic believes that the international players have not only problems with individual performance and tactical execution, but also the mood and mentality of the entire team need to be adjusted. However, in just 3 days, it can change the face of the national football team and complete the rebound in the match against Uzbekistan, and I believe that fans will not believe it. In addition, Yang Shuai also mentioned that the selection system of the national team is open, and he hopes that when the World Preliminary Round of 36 comes in November, the national football team will have a complete lineup. This statement inevitably makes people wonder whether Yankovic is going to "knife" the promotion of the national football team. However, even if new players are called, they will have to wait until the national team's October training period.
According to Jankovic, the main reason why the national football team did not win the game was that the team itself had problems. But in fact, the performance of the Malaysian men's football team is indeed remarkable. Being able to draw the Asian "strong team" ranked 50 higher than himself is also inseparable from the meticulous preparation of South Korean coach Kim Jukun. At the press conference before this game, Jin Juekun released a bold statement: "I respect Chinese football, but I'm sorry, I am confident in tomorrow's game." ”
It turns out that Jin Jukun, who has twice led the clean sheet national football team in Hong Kong, China, is not talking big, and the "confidence" he said is also from the heart. In addition to his own experience in dismissing former Chinese team coach Pei Lan, the Malaysian Football Association's strong help to the national team is also the capital of Jin Juekun's confidence. At a time when the naturalization trend of international football is intensifying, the Malaysian Football Association has chosen to follow suit. It is precisely because of more than ten high-level naturalized players that the Malaysian men's football team has improved its world ranking by a full 50 places in only one year.
At the post-match press conference, Kim Jukun also specifically thanked the Malaysian Football Association for its strong support. And when we Chinese fans mention naturalization and the Football Association, the first thing that comes to mind is "Chen Lipei" who is behind bars. If the national football team had firmly used naturalized players, even if it still could not stand out from the round of 12, the national football team's naturalization road would not have been like it is today. Compared with the Malaysian Football Association, in addition to long-term training, has our Football Association given any substantial positive support to the national football team?