Ivankovic began to serve as the new coach of the national football team on February 24, although he is not familiar with domestic players, but with the assistance of the Chinese coach, he won 1 win and 1 draw (2-2, 4-1) in back-to-back games with Singapore, and scored 4 points.
At present, the national football team ranks second in Group C with 7 points, and the first place is South Korea with 10 points, and the Chinese team only needs to defeat Thailand with 4 points at home on June 6, and the two teams of China and South Korea will join hands to advance to the top 18 of the Asian zone of the World Preliminary Championship.
The Football Association signed a three-year contract with Ivan, covering a number of different stage goals, with the first goal being to qualify for the round of 36. If the national football team fails to advance to the round of 18, the contract will be terminated in advance, and the national football team will most likely launch a new round of global coach selection plan to prepare for the 2030 World Cup.
Wu Lei, the top scorer of the national football team, and Li Yuanyi, a midfielder of Taishan, received red and yellow cards in the rematch between China and Singapore, and the next round of the home game against Thailand will be suspended, which is bad news for coach Ivan who advocates offensive and "risky" tactics.
The importance of Wu Lei can be illustrated by a set of data: the national football team scored 8 goals in the first 4 rounds of the round of 36, of which the "Wuqiu King" scored 5 goals alone and had an assist goal.
Li Yuanyi's role in the midfield can also be quantified: the national football midfielder is generally 4 people, with a diamond-shaped position, Xie Pengfei in the front, Li Yuanyi is a left forward, Fernando is a right forward, and Wang Shangyuan or Gao Tianyi is the single back.
In the first game of China and Singapore, Li Yuanyi touched the ball 40 times, passed the ball 27 times, made 19 accurate passes, had a pass success rate of 70%, succeeded 2 times in 4 battles, succeeded 3 times in 7 ground scrambles, cleared 2 times, and intercepted 1 time.
In the second game, Li Yuanyi touched the ball 35 times, passed the ball 25 times, made 19 accurate passes, had a pass success rate of 76%, made 2 key passes, succeeded 1 time in the top fight, succeeded 5 times in 9 ground scrambles, made 1 tackle and interception, and was fouled 4 times, which was the highest in the game.
Li Yuanyi's play is very stable, compared with other teammates in the midfield, compared with Wei Shihao, Lin Liangming, Aikeson, etc., who came on as a substitute, his defense brings greater value; the national football team has many offensive players in the midfield, and Li Yuanyi is even more precious; his 79th minute foul and red card was also caused by the fatal mistake of his midfield teammates.
Ivan scored four points against Singapore, but it may not work against Thailand with the same lineup.
The offensive combination of the midfield and midfield of the national football team can still be used, but the midfield defense is a major shortcoming, and Wang Shangyuan and Gao Tianyi are not the best candidates for a single back.
According to the 2024 Chinese football calendar, after the 14th round of the Chinese Super League, the national football team will organize the second training camp of this year, which will start on May 27.
Ivan has left Beijing on March 28, and returned to Zagreb with several foreign assistants to go through the relevant procedures, and it is expected to take a week to return at the earliest, which means that Ivan's foreign coach team can catch up with the 4th round of the Chinese Super League as soon as possible, like the 3rd round of the Chinese Super League focus battle - Taishan VS Shenhua, with a high probability that Zheng Zhi, Shao Jiayi and others will arrive at the scene.
At the first meeting with the media on March 8, Ivan said: "My idea is to find two or three new players to enter the training list for inspection every time I train for the first time. ”
Wang Zhenao, Xie Wenneng, Li Yuanyi, Zhao Bo, and Cheng Jin are five newcomers to the national football team; Li Ang, Li Shuai, Li Ke, Zhao Bo, and Xie Wenneng were not selected for the 26-man list due to injuries, overlapping positions, and being selected for the National Olympic Games; Deng Hanwen, Dai Weijun, and Wang Zhenao were not selected for the 23-man list, and it is likely that it was Ivan's opinion.
In the national football training list, Zhang Linpeng is 34 years old (35 years old in May), and players over 30 years old in addition to the goalkeeper include 32-year-old Wu Lei, 31-year-old Fernando, 30-year-old Xie Pengfei (31 years old in June), 34-year-old Aikesen (35 years old in July), 30-year-old Wang Shangyuan (31 years old in June), 31-year-old Li Lei (32 years old in May), 29-year-old Jiang Guangtai (30 years old in May), 30-year-old Li Ang (31 years old in September), 30-year-old Li Ke (31 years old in May), etc.
This list is obviously not long-lasting, the average age is on the older side, and Ivan's coaching style and tactical characteristics will require a group of young players with plenty of physical fitness to complete.
The performance of the first captain of the national football team "Zhang 5" in the first game of China and Singapore, as well as the "withdrawal and return turmoil", coupled with the 35-year-old Wu Xi, the former first captain of the national football team, and the 36-year-old Tan Long, the center forward, to some extent, means that the 89 golden generation of international players will gradually leave the stage of history.
Taking Exxon as an example, he was injured during the national football training camp, and returned from injury before the trip, Ivan did not hesitate to add Exxon, who played 0 in the first 2 rounds of the Chinese Super League, to the 26-man list.
However, in the third round of the Chinese Super League, Chengdu Rongcheng 1-0 Nantong Zhiyun, of which Aikesen only came off the bench in the 87th minute, counting stoppage time, Aikesen played 7 minutes in the middle of the league this season, and is no longer an indispensable player in Xu Zhengyuan's eyes.
From the perspective of age, Zhang Linpeng and Aikeson, who are about to be 35 years old, are likely to be selected for the new training list of the national football team at the end of May, after all, Gao Zhunyi's performance was approved by Ivan.
Ackerson came on as a substitute in the 80th minute of the first game of China and Singapore, played 15 minutes in extra time, scored 0 goals, and the national football team also conceded the second goal, and sat on the bench like Zhang Linpeng in the second leg.
Wu Lei and Li Yuanyi's suspension is a "bright card", some media said that Guoan's naturalized player back Li Ke is expected to get a chance, but Li Ke has been selected for the national football training team with different coaches in charge of Shuaiyin twice in a row, but he was defeated at the last moment, and the problem does not seem to be simple.
In addition, the voices calling for naturalized striker Alan on the west coast of Qingdao and Li Tixiang of Zhejiang to be selected for the national football team are also not small, but the naturalized player Alan is 34 years old (35 years old in July), and Li Titian is also 34 years old (35 years old in September), both players of the age group of 89.
On the one hand, veterans such as Yu Dabao, Wu Xi, Tan Long, Zhang Linpeng and other veterans have taken the initiative to withdraw or have the intention of retiring, and have been recognized by all aspects, on the other hand, the Croatians continue to recruit new 34-year-old players, so it seems to be the backing of the spear, and it is difficult to justify itself?
Wu Lei and Li Yuanyi were suspended, and the attack power of the national football team was greatly reduced, and the attack, goals, and scoring in the midfield were definitely affected;
Who can become the two-person replacement for Wu Lei and Li Yuanyi, and can Ivan find the answer through the Chinese Super League?