Xinhua News Agency, Bangkok, November 15 (Reporter Wei Hua, Lin Hao, Wan Houde) On the 16th, the Chinese men's football team will officially start the journey of the 13th World Cup. Strategically, the score and tactical content of this game may set the tone for the rest of the game, and the Chinese men's football team also needs a positive result to boost the confidence of all parties.
On October 16, the starters of the Chinese team took a group photo before the game. On the same day, in the 2023 CFA China Team Dalian International Football Invitational Tournament held in Dalian, Liaoning Province, the Chinese team played against the Uzbekistan team. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Pan Yulong
In the round of 36 of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in Asia, the Chinese team is in Group C with South Korea, Thailand and Singapore, and the top two teams in each group advance to the round of 18. Looking back on the previous two World Preliminaries, although the Chinese team broke into the final Asian Top 12, the process was not easy, and even when participating in the 2018 World Preliminaries Asian Top 40, it was not until the last round that they advanced thrillingly. Therefore, the Chinese men's football team should lay a good foundation in this qualifier as early as possible to avoid falling into the embarrassment of "arithmetic problems" again.
Among the four teams in Group C, South Korea is a strong team and will basically lock in a qualifying place, while Singapore will probably not pose a substantial threat, so another qualification for this group is likely to be between China and Thailand, and the two direct encounters between the two will largely affect the pattern of this group.
When it comes to the Thai team, it has indeed brought a painful experience to Chinese football in recent years. There is far from the unforgettable "1:5" in Hefei in 2013, and as recently as August this year, Shanghai Port lost 2:3 at home to Thailand's BG Pathum United in the AFC Champions League play-offs and missed the main game. As a representative of Southeast Asia, the level of Thai football continues to improve. In addition to the well-known "Thai Messi" Songkrasin and Danda, there are also returnee players with excellent skills such as Pixel Paso and Supana, as well as several naturalized players. In the Southeast Asian Football Championship earlier this year, Thailand defeated Vietnam over two legs to win the championship and consolidate its dominance in the region. Today's Thai team not only continues the "small and fast" in the past, but the addition of several tall players also enriches the team's technical and tactical options.
In the last national team match window, the Thai team, which went to Europe for training, drew one and lost one, including a 0-8 defeat to Georgia, but the head coach Polkin did not assemble the strongest squad in the team at that time. In recent training camps, the roster of the Thai team has also changed greatly. In addition, after losing 0:1 to Thailand in the China Cup in March 2019, the Chinese team has not played against the Thai team for more than 4 years, which also adds a touch of mystery to the match on the 16th.
Thailand's Songkrasin (second from left) breaks through with the ball during a match on March 21, 2019. On the same day, the 2019 China Cup International Football Championship kicked off in Nanning, Guangxi, and the Chinese national men's football training team lost 0-1 to the Thai team in the first game. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Hua
In this game, the right fullback of the Thai team, Mikkelsen, who plays in the Danish league, was absent due to injury, which is a good thing for the Chinese men's football team, but at the same time, Jiang Guangtai, the absolute main force of the Chinese team, also retired due to injury. In the case of losing the "Dinghai Shen Needle" in the back, how to adjust the back line of the Chinese team is a difficult problem left to head coach Jankovic.
Although some recent results against Thailand have not been ideal, in the knockout round of the Asian Cup in early 2019, the Chinese team reversed their opponents 2:1. In June 2018, the Chinese team, led by then-head coach Lippi, defeated their opponents 2:0 in the warm-up match, also in Bangkok. Judging from the overall record, the Thai team is not an absolute "bitter master".
China's Wu Lei (second from left) celebrates a goal with his teammates during a match on June 2, 2018. On the same day, in a football warm-up match held in Bangkok, Thailand, the Chinese team defeated the Thai team 2-0. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Laheng)
In a previous interview with Xinhua News Agency, Jankovic not only talked about technical and tactical factors, but also emphasized his confidence in the game. As a head coach, Jankovic should pass on this mentality to every player in the team and instill the courage to win the opponent. Chinese football has continued to decline at all levels in recent years, and if it can take away one or even three points away in this important match with the Thai team, it will not only pave the way for the future World Preliminary Championships, but also bring a strong signal to all walks of life.