Draw = advance promotion! The national football team broke out in the Year of the Dragon, and the new coach bet on Wei Shihao and played defensive counterattack tactics
After the Asian Cup fiasco, the world ranking of the national football team plummeted to 88th, reduced to a third-rate team in Asia, only ranked 13th, Jankovic became a scapegoat, and finally took the anger of the fans in the way of the next class, the Football Association after more than 1 month of coach selection, the target is the 69-year-old former Chinese Super League champion coach Ivankovic, in the last World Preliminaries, Ivankovic led Oman to beat the Japanese team 1-0, which impressed the fans, and now the Football Association regards Ivankovic as the savior of the national football team.
For Ivankovic's successful appointment, fans learned through channels that the main reason is that Ivankovic's annual salary is only 2 million euros, for the Football Association, in the dark of Chinese football, 2 million euros is not a small amount, the Football Association can no longer invite the world famous coach Lippi four years ago, spend a lot of money, can only choose cost-effective candidates, Ivankovic, as the former coach of the former Chinese Super League champion Shandong Taishan, has been coaching in Asia for many years, and is well versed in Asian football, which can help the national football team seamlessly dock in the upcoming World Preliminary Tournament。
The draw of the national football team in the 2026 World Preliminary Championship Asian Zone 36 is very good, and there is only one super strong team in the same group, South Korea, Thailand, and Singapore are more ideal opponents. In the first round, the national football team defeated the Thai team 2-1 away and took the initiative to qualify from the group. Ivankovic's debut will be on March 21 against Singapore, Asia's biggest man, who are unbeaten in four all-time appearances against Singapore with seven wins and two draws, and a 6-1, 3-0 victory.
As a Croatian coach, Ivankovic has proven himself in Asia, in 2010, Ivankovic led Shandong Taishan to win the Chinese Super League championship in the Chinese Super League, and then Ivankovic traveled to Asian countries, successively coached in Iran, Oman and other countries, the last World Preliminaries, Ivankovic was in charge of Oman, and the undefeated game against the national football team won 1 win and 1 draw in two legs, and the ranking is also stronger than the Chinese men's football team. Ivankovic is good at leading the weak team to create miracles, and defensive counterattacks are his main tactics.
A careful analysis of the national football team's defeat in the Asian Cup can be seen that the national football defense line only conceded 1 goal, which is the least number of goals conceded among the 24 participating teams, defense is the strength of the national football team, but in terms of offense, the national football team has not scored a goal in three games, Wu Lei is getting old, and he can no longer charge for the national football team.
Wu Lei is 32 years old, the speed of survival in the past is no longer an advantage, it is difficult to expect Wu Lei to attack the city on the front line of the national football team, Ivankovic must change the attack of the national football team, Wei Shihao's ability to control the ball and break through the change of direction is second to none in this national football team, and Wei Shihao is indeed a player with better skills in the current national football team, and he is expected to become the secret weapon of Ivankovic. In China's traditional Year of the Dragon, the most legendary year of the 12 zodiac signs of the national football team, the national football team once again set off to attack the World Cup, Ivankovic was eager to surprise the national football team, and successfully reached the round of 36 and entered the round of 18.
The national football team in March home and away against Singapore two games is a must win the game, when the national football team will accumulate 9 points, due to Thailand's home and away challenge to South Korea in the same period, with the strength of the Thai team, it is not practical to want to grab points from South Korea, no surprise, the Thai team will only accumulate 3 points after 4 rounds, in the 5th round, the national football team will meet with the Thai team, the first leg to win and the situation, the national football team only needs to draw Thailand to be able to successfully qualify from the group and advance to the round of 18.