Ivan returned to China again to apply for a visa, and after returning a week later, the Chinese Super League will continue to metabolize the national football team
After returning to Beijing from Tianjin on the afternoon of March 27 and summarizing the training and games led by the team some time ago, the new coach of the Chinese team, Ivankovic, and several Croatian assistants left Beijing at noon on the 28th Beijing time and returned to Zagreb, Croatia, to prepare for a work visa to China. Ivan is expected to return to China in a week or so, and then go deep into the Chinese Super League to expand the scope of the players. What is certain is that there will be a certain number of new faces in the new national football training camp that will start at the end of May.
In the fourth round of the 2026 World Preliminary Asian Zone 36 on the 26th, the Chinese team sat at the home of Tianjin and defeated the Singapore team 4-1, thus rising to the second place in the Group C standings. This result means that as long as China can win their home match against Thailand on June 6, they will be bound to reach the round of 18.
It is understood that the foreign coaching team of the national football team with Ivan as the head returned to Beijing at 2 pm on the 27th. According to the usual practice, after completing a certain stage of preparation or leading the team in the game, the national brand coaching team should summarize the relevant work to the Chinese Football Association. In fact, on the day of the new match, many important members of the association, including the main leaders of the Chinese Football Association, went to the Tianjin competition area to watch the game. After the game, several leaders of the association also went into the team locker room to congratulate the team on their victory and cheer them up for making persistent efforts to play the next games. Taking this opportunity, Ivan has actually communicated with the relevant person in charge of the national team management of the association.
Ivankovic made a point of expressing his gratitude to the Chinese Football Association at the post-match press conference. This shows that the Chinese Football Association has given full trust and support to him and his coaching team, which is an important prerequisite for Ivan's team to further improve his coaching work.
It is understood that Ivan and other Croatian coaches of the national football team set off from Beijing at noon on the 28th Beijing time, and then returned to Zagreb, Croatia via Munich, Germany. It is understood that after reaching a consensus with the Chinese Football Association on cooperation in late February, Ivankovic set off from Shanghai to return to Zagreb on the evening of February 25, that is, the night after the Super Cup. This is because he came to China on an ordinary single-entry business visa at that time. Because he will be watching the league in China for a long time, inspecting the players, and leading the team to prepare for games and games, Ivan needs to apply for a work visa to come to China. However, due to the lack of visa materials (work contract materials) prepared by Ivan at that time, he still applied for a business visa in China this time, and he had to return to Croatia again to continue to apply for a work visa.
Although Ivan is contractually allowed to take appropriate leave during the team's non-training camp or game cycle, the preparation for the Sino-Thai match is urgent. Ivankovic is expected to return to China in about a week. According to the calendar, the Chinese Super League will be rekindled on March 29. This means Ivankovic and several foreign assistants will be absent from the third round of the league this weekend. In this case, the Chinese coaching team with Zheng Zhi, Shao Jiayi and Chen Tao as members will assist the head coach to visit the players in the relevant competition area.
During the media conference on March 8, Ivankovic publicly stated that he would recruit about 2 newcomers in the next training camp. It is understood that the newcomers who have been "targeted" by Ivan's coaching team are not only Li Yuanyi, Zhao Bo, Cheng Jin, Xie Wenneng, and Wang Zhenao, who have been selected for this training camp. Since the Chinese Super League will play a total of 12 rounds of matches before the national football team reconcentrates at the end of May, Ivan has enough opportunities to watch the league and expand the range of players to be examined. In the case that Wu Lei and Li Yuan are both suspended in the next round, players such as Qingdao West Coast's naturalized striker Alan, Guoan's naturalized defender Li Ke, and Zhejiang team's technical midfielder Li Titian are expected to join the team.
Text/Beiqing Sports Xiao Yun