In the first round of the round of 18, the national team lost 0-7 to Japan. Speaking about the painful defeat, Ivankovic hinted that the national football players were not "100 per cent committed".
Relying on Singapore's 1-3 defeat to Thailand, the national football team advanced to the round of 18. However, in the first round away to Japan, the national team lost 0-7, setting a record for the largest defeat in the team's history and a single-game goal conceded in the team's history.
In the last World Preliminary Tournament, the national football team coached by Li Tie and Li Xiaopeng lost to Japan with a score of 0-1 and 0-2 respectively, while Ivankovic led Oman to defeat Japan.
What is the difference between the national football team and Oman? Ivankovic said, "The difference is that Oman trains for a long time every year, 60-80 days a year, and they play a lot of friendly matches, and the Oman players are more confident that they have nothing to lose against Japan, and they can play this game lightly." In the 0-7 game, the Japan players were more 100% involved in the game than the Chinese players. ”
The national football team started with three consecutive defeats in the round of 18, Ivankovic said, "In the qualifiers, we were with the three strongest teams, all of them were favorites, and unfortunately we were placed in the group of death, including Indonesia, which also changed a lot of players, and I am very happy that we can beat such a team." ”
Ivankovic's remarks sparked dissatisfaction among fans, with some fans saying, "How can a normal professional league give you such a long training camp." If you are the head coach of the national team in Japan and South Korea, and let the European players come back and not play games and train with you? Isn't this a pure and outdated training method?" and "Long-term intensive training is not scientific."