On February 28, the Chinese Football Association officially announced the training list of the new Chinese men's national football team, and five newcomers, including Wang Yudong, Liu Chengyu, Wang Shiqin, Liu Haofan, and Xu Bin, were selected for the national football team for the first time. In this international break cycle, the national football team will play Saudi Arabia and Australia, which is related to whether they can "survive" on the journey to the 2026 US-Canada-Mexico World Cup. National football coach Ivankovic selected five "stunned youths", really want to play a big gamble?
tasted the sweetness, and the national football team blew another storm of youth
In order to prepare for the 7th and 8th rounds of the Asian round of 18 of the World Preliminary Championships in late March, the national football team will refocus on March 3, and then go to Dubai, United Arab Emirates for training. On the evening of February 28, the Chinese Football Association announced the new list of 32 players of the national football team through official channels, and U20 national football players Wang Yudong, Liu Chengyu, Wang Shiqin, Liu Haofan, Xu Bin and other 5 newcomers were selected for the national football team for the first time.
It must be admitted that these five middle-aged players have little experience in the field, and in the eyes of some veterans, they are even a little "milky and not dry" jerky. However, Ivankovic may be showing his attitude with such a move: the rejuvenation of the national football team will continue. In the top 18 of the Asian region of the World Preliminaries, Ivankovic, who had just taken over the coaching whip of the national football team, exposed the shortcomings of technical and tactical aggressiveness, slow on-the-spot command, and slightly stubborn employment, and the national football team was forced to draw 2-2 by the Singapore team at home and 1-1 by the Thai team at home, completely losing the initiative to advance; In the last round, the national football team lost 0-1 to the South Korean team, and finally the Singapore team, which was at the bottom of the group, made every effort to stop the Thai team, helping the national football team to reach the round of 18 with a slight advantage at the last minute.
Entering the round of 18, Ivankovic's national football team first lost 0-7 to the Japanese team away from home, creating a shameful record of the largest loss in a Sino-Japanese football match; After that, in the good situation of one more person at home and a 1-0 lead, he refused to make substitutions according to the old ways, and was defeated by the opponent's magical substitutions, and finally lost 1-2. In the face of questions from the outside world asking Ivankovic to leave class, the Chinese Football Association chose a prudent strategy and continued to trust Ivankovic.
On January 9, the head coach of the Chinese team, Ivankovic, was interviewed by the media. On the same day, the Chinese national men's football team trained in Haikou, Hainan Province, preparing for the round of 18 of the 2026 US-Canada-Mexico World Cup Asian Qualifiers to be held in March. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Guo Cheng
The Croatian veteran coach has started a storm of rejuvenation and transformation of the national football team in the face of adversity, and young players with technical defects such as Baihelam but full of momentum have begun to get more opportunities. The national football team, which ushered in a young lineup, carried out the utilitarian football that focused on counterattack efficiency to the end, and although the national football team was ugly, it defeated Indonesia and Bahrain in succession to usher in two consecutive victories. Although the last round lost 1-3 at home to Japan, the scene was acceptable and the fans did not complain too much.
Ivankovic, who has tasted the sweetness of the rejuvenation of the national football team, is now even a little "intensified" when finalizing the national football list. The average age of the new national football team is 26.72 years old, which is about 30 years old compared to the early days when Ivankovic took over, and it does give more young players opportunities.
On February 23, Shandong Taishan team goalkeeper Wang Dalei (second from left) was sent off with a red card in the game. He is already the oldest active international. Xinhua News Agency
In the current list of the national football team, only 35-year-old Wang Dalei is a "post-80s" veteran, and 11 "post-00s" young players were selected, including Jiang Shenglong, Hu Hetao, Wu Shaocong, Wang Shiqin, Liu Haofan, Wang Haijian, Xie Wenneng, Xu Bin, Liu Chengyu, Wang Yudong and Bai Helamu. Among them, Hu Hetao, Wang Shiqin, Liu Haofan, and Bai Helamu were born in 2003, Xu Bin was born in 2004, and the youngest are Wang Yudong and Liu Chengyu, both of whom were born in 2006, and both of them are not yet 19 years old.
More like a disguise, naturalized internationals are not yet in place
Of course, Ivankovic recruited five newcomers this time, especially the five newcomers are not experienced in the Chinese Super League, there are actually deep-seated reasons behind it: Shanghai Port and Shanghai Shenhua team will also play in the AFC Champions League Elite League, and the international players of these two teams will temporarily miss the early training camp; The Chinese passports and ID cards of the non-blood naturalized Serginho and Oscar Jr. who have been given the green light to speed up the operation at the relevant level have not yet been completed - the national football team is betting more on the newcomers or "making up the number of training camps", and by the way, the ability and potential of the newcomers will be examined.
October 27, 2024 On October 27, Henan club Jiuzu Dukang player Achimpeng (below) and Changchun Yatai player Sergiño (right) fight during the game. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Jianan
According to the plan, the Chinese Super League will be suspended after two rounds to make room for the national football team to train and play. The national football team will go to Beijing, Dubai, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province to organize training camps and participate in the competition from March 3 to 26. On March 21 and 25, the Chinese team will challenge Saudi Arabia away and Australia at home in the world preliminaries.
However, Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai Port have reached the round of 16 of the AFC Champions League respectively, and the two teams will play two legs from March 4 to 12. This also means that the internationals of both teams will be absent from the national football training camp for about a week, of course, from a positive point of view, the two teams of international players will compete in the high-level AFC Champions League elite league, and the competitive state will definitely be more secure than other international players who have been training for a long time.
July 6, 2024 Cangzhou Lions player Oscar (front) fights during a game on July 6. On the same day, in the 18th round of the 2024 Chinese Football Association Super League, the Cangzhou Lions drew 1-1 with Shenzhen Xinpeng City at home. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Zhou Yang)
In fact, after the national football team "came back to life" in the top 18 matches, the Chinese Football Association and relevant parties started the "muscle-building action" of the national football team. The specific approach is to quickly improve the strength of the national football team by naturalizing qualified foreign aid, so that they can become Chinese international players after becoming Chinese nationals. Among them, Serginho, a former from Brazil, has joined Beijing Guoan, and his attacking ability is very strong, and in the 2024 Chinese Super League season, Changchun Yatai contributed 8 goals and 8 assists, and is a veritable midfield engine. In addition, the tall Oscar Jr. is a black high school forward, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who made 21 starts for the Cangzhou Lions last year, contributing seven goals and four assists.
In the 2025 season, Serginho joined Beijing Guoan, and Oscar Jr. became the foreign aid of Yunnan Yukun, a promoted horse. It is reported that the naturalization of Oscar and Serginho has entered the final stage of "settlement", and at present, Yunnan Yukun and Beijing Guoan are going through the procedures for the two to settle in Kunming and Beijing respectively. If they can complete the naturalization procedures before the World Preliminary Tournament and get Ivankovic's approval, the two can enter the national team.
Beijing Guoan operation naturalized Serginho.
Yunnan Yukun operation naturalized little Oscar.
The absence of Shenhua and Harbor international players from the early training camp of the national football team is a foregone conclusion, and there are variables about when Serginho and Oscar Jr. will complete the settlement procedures. As a result, Ivankovic recruited 5 young internationals who were selected for the first time, and in the final analysis, there is still some "top-notch" role.
On the one hand, this new group of international players does have some strength and potential; On the other hand, recruiting them does have the idea of ensuring that there are enough internationals in the group. However, from the perspective of comprehensive factors, even if it is only temporarily selected for inspection, the starting point of the national football team to recruit five newcomers to set off a new round of youth storm is still worthy of affirmation.
Original title: Observation: The national football team welcomes five more "stunned youths", and Ivankovic, who has tasted the sweetness of youth, has intensified his gamble?
Column Editor-in-Chief: Chen Hua Text Editor: Chen Hua Title picture source: Xinhua News Agency
Source: Author: For Ice