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on the evening of september 10, the final whistle blew, and the dalian soaring bay football stadium responded with a heavy sigh. the chinese men's football team was reversed by the saudi team in the second round of the 2026 world cup asian qualifiers, and suffered two consecutive defeats with a score of 1:2.

china led after 14 minutes, but the opponent sent off a player in the 19th minute. china had a fantastic start, but still lost. in this game where they should have won points, the on-the-spot command of the chinese head coach ivankovic is to blame.

in the first half, the chinese team's less than 30% ball possession rate has already explained some problems. the saudi team, with one less player, still controlled the rhythm on the field, and the number of threatening balls and passes was also better than that of the chinese team. after the two sides ended in a 1:1 draw, the chinese team only made one passive adjustment in the second half, replacing jiang guangtai who was injured in the first half with wang shangyuan. perhaps it was the stalemate in the first half that made the conservative ivankovic lack the ambition to win. the chinese team's offense in the second half still seemed simple and lacked rules, and did not show the advantage in numbers at all.

in the second half, several chinese players were physically exhausted and the situation was already quite passive, but ivankovic still did not make any adjustments, and only replaced xie wenneng who could not continue. the coaching staff did not actively adjust to send a signal: should they keep one point or do their best to fight for three points? until the saudi team scored a goal in the 90th minute, the chinese team paid a heavy price for the coaching staff's timidity and mishandling.

one incompetent general can exhaust the whole army. the chinese team basically walked out of the shadow of the first round of defeat in this game, and also showed a good spirit on the field, but due to the coach's improper command, they failed to get a point in a good situation. in the 10 group matches, the chinese team, which lost two games in a row, has already ranked last. whether it is a big defeat or a reversal, it is not inevitable. at this time, someone should stand up and take responsibility.

(source: people's daily client)