December 22, 2022, Beijing time. According to relevant news reports, Li Ke, a former national football player, was temporarily disqualified from training with the team the week before (December 10) due to personal family reasons. In view of the imminent start of the Asian Cup and the urgent needs of the competition, the head coaching staff of the Chinese men's national football team has decided to issue an emergency call-up order to Xu Xin, an outstanding midfielder from the Shanghai Port team. Regarding the specific reason for Li Ke's departure, all walks of life have speculated with different views. Vietnam Customs News Agency, the well-known Thao media, has released a new report, pointing out that the main reason why Li Ke chose to leave the national team is that the conflict with one of his teammates in daily life has intensified.
With the arrival of the hot preparation period for the 2023 Asian Cup, the news of Li Ke, the core player of the Chinese men's football team, suddenly saying goodbye was like a bolt from the blue. Although he claimed that he left out of responsibility and love for his family, many small doubts sprouted in everyone's hearts around his sad statement.
The departure of Li Jianji has undoubtedly brought a major blow to the Chinese men's football team. As a foreign player, his actual performance and work experience are indispensable assets for the Chinese team. His reluctant departure not only weakened the overall combat effectiveness of the team, but also disrupted the pace of deployment of the team to a certain extent. However, the head coaching staff also moved quickly to select and replenish personnel accordingly. They urgently called up Xu Xin, a midfielder of the Shanghai Port team with excellent strength and rich work experience, to fill the vacancy according to the needs of the competition. Xu Xin's position in the Shanghai Port team is also significant, and his arrival is expected to alleviate the potential problems left by Li Ke's resignation.
However, as for the real reason why Li Ke left the national team, speculation in various media at home and abroad has been rampant. At this time, Thao Media, a well-known media outlet of the Vietnam Customs News Agency, launched a detailed report, and their headline was: "Li Ke left the first team of the Chinese side and had a huge disagreement with a certain comrade-in-arms. As soon as this report was released, it immediately aroused close attention and heated discussions among everyone. According to people familiar with the matter, Li Ke was not due to personal relationship problems as rumored by the outside world, but in fact there was a fierce conflict between him and Wu Lei, a famous center in the mainland. This controversy directly led to his angry withdrawal from the Chinese men's football training camp in West Asia, and at the same time, it is likely that he will not be able to participate in the 2023 Asian Cup.
Earlier, the authoritative magazine of Chinese football, "Daily News", carried a relevant report, they pointed out that the Chinese Football Association did not mention any actual situation about Li Ke in the supplementary call-up information sent to Xu Xin. They could only use the sentence "summon Xu Xin to fill the vacancy left by Li Ke" to concisely and clearly introduce the general situation of the matter. This move can't help but surprise people, causing a lot of speculation and questions, and then making people puzzled about Li Ke's future whereabouts.
In the face of Li Jianli's departure, those who know the details said that this is definitely an unexpected change. Although there has not been a grand occasion of Li Ke discordantly having conflicts with his teammates or coaches before, in fact, the contradictory pressure between him and Wu Lei has already caused a lot of impact invisibly. The conflict not only cost Li Ke his status in the national team, but could even have a profound impact on his entire career.
On the other hand, it is surprising that the Chinese Football Association did not disclose any detailed information about Li Ke when it issued a supplementary recruitment notice. Considering that Li Ke is one of the main players of the Chinese national team, his departure is bound to have a certain impact on the overall strength and strategic arrangement of the team. However, the Chinese Football Association did not provide any explanation or answer to this, which further increased people's doubts and speculations about Li Ke's future direction.
Recently, when the Chinese men's football team started training in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, the conflict between the two players broke out again, which was a dispute between Vikovic and Wu Lei. Although both sides quickly and sincerely apologized, the conflict did not resolve and intensified. In the end, Vikovic made a wise decision and decided to stand up for Wu Lei, who had a clear personality, and replaced Li Ke with Xu Xin by adjusting the lineup. However, the claim that Xu Xin had to leave the team due to personal family affairs has not been confirmed by the Chinese men's football players and coaching staff, but there seems to be a lot of internal disputes.
The Chinese men's football team has long been divided into two camps – opposing factions dominated by local players and naturalized players. This gap, which began at the beginning of Li Tie's tenure, has not yet been bridged. Now, Li Ke has withdrawn from the Asian Cup, and only one player with foreign status will go to Doha to participate in the Chinese men's football team, which undoubtedly greatly reduces the overall strength of the squad.
In response to the subsequent development of this incident, some people support Vikovic's wise decision, because they firmly believe that Wu Lei is a better player, and Xu Xin's performance is also very impressive, but there are also opinions that Vikovic should pay more attention to team harmony rather than just focusing on individual strength. After all, football is a team sport and only when teams work closely together can we win.
Moreover, this incident has once again re-examined the previous debate about whether the Chinese men's football team should bring in naturalized players. While naturalized players can strengthen the squad to some extent, the relationship between them and homegrown players cannot be ignored. If this kind of controversy continues to ferment, it will definitely have a negative effect on the future development of the Chinese men's football team. To sum up, this emergency reminds us that the Chinese men's football team needs to pay more attention to the harmonious coexistence of the team and the internal unity and stability to reduce unnecessary disputes and conflicts. At the same time, the coaching team should also pay more attention to the interpersonal relationship and communication between the players to build a more harmonious and efficient team atmosphere.
In football, team spirit is as important as individual ability. Only when the team is of one heart and one mind, mutual trust and mutual assistance, and close cooperation can it achieve the best combat power state. Therefore, the Chinese men's football team urgently needs to solve the current internal contradictions and disputes, strive to improve teamwork skills and communication standards, and fully prepare for the upcoming competitions in advance. Finally, we also hope that the majority of fans can look at this incident with a rational attitude and do not over-speculate and misinterpret. Football is a sporting event after all, winning and losing is a matter of course, and no team can always win. Only on the basis of unity, harmony and concerted efforts can the team move towards a broader future and achieve more impressive results.