news

hu dikai, a reporter from jimu news

on the evening of september 10, in the second round of the 2026 world cup asian qualifiers group c, the chinese team scored first at home, and the opponent lost the game even though one player was sent off due to a red card at the beginning. at the press conference after the game, facing the question of "dismissal", the head coach of the chinese team ivankovic responded: "this question should not be asked to me."

in this match, the chinese team scored the first goal in the 14th minute. fernando took a corner kick, and jiang shenglong's header caused a saudi player to score an own goal, and the chinese team led 1-0. five minutes later, saudi player cano violently fouled jiang shenglong. the referee directly gave him a red card after watching the var replay and sent him off. in the subsequent match, the chinese team played against the saudi team's 10 players with 11 players.

the chinese team's fantastic start made many fans think that they could win the game. but before the first half ended, saudi arabia's kadesh scored a goal from a corner kick and equalized the score. in the second half, the chinese team still failed to seize the advantage of leading in numbers. before the end of the game, the goal was once again scored by saudi arabia's kadesh from a corner kick, and they were defeated.

with one more player, the chinese team lost the ball twice from corner kicks for 70 minutes. the tactical arrangements and untimely substitutions of head coach ivankovic aroused doubts among netizens.

image source: weibo screenshot

after the game, tens of thousands of chinese football fans watching the game at the dalian soaring bay stadium shouted in unison: "ivan resigns!" the topic of "ivan resigns" also became a hot search on the internet. many netizens commented: "all three goals were scored by saudi arabia!" "seeing the score of 1:2, i thought it was a goal, but it turned out to be an own goal." "11 vs. 10, and we were still overtaken."

image source: xinhua news agency

well-known commentator han qiaosheng commented on the game: "we scored first, had one more player, and played for nearly 70 minutes! in the end, we still lost... where can we go to seek justice?" he also questioned the chinese head coach ivan: "head coach ivan's on-the-spot adjustments were too slow and too poor. the players on the field were weak. the opposing coach mancini knew to make adjustments in the event of a draw. why? is it to suit the opponent's situation?" han qiaosheng bluntly said that this loss was uglier than the 0:7 loss to japan!

image source: weibo screenshot

sports commentator zhan jun also posted a message saying: "what a great loss!!! we can't even get a point like this, i don't know when we'll have to wait for the next one... the coaching staff failed to command well on the spot, and the substitutions were too late and too conservative!" the official weibo account of dongqiudi wrote in the poster released: "how can we lose like this?? the chinese national team was 1:0 with one more player in the first 19 minutes, but in the end they were reversed by saudi arabia with a score of 1:2!"

image source: weibo screenshot

at the press conference after the game, when china's head coach ivankovic was questioned by reporters and asked whether he would be fired, he said: "the issue of firing should not be raised to me. we did lose by a large margin in the last game, but there are three hot teams in the group, and they are all very strong teams. our group goal should be the top four and enter the next stage. we are still working hard, and there are still eight games to go. our performance in the second game was better than the last one, and we have greater hope for the team."

image source: xinhua news agency

so far, the chinese team has suffered two consecutive defeats at the beginning of the world cup qualifiers, and its points continue to be at the bottom of group c. in the previous away game against japan, the chinese team lost 0-7, creating the biggest defeat in the world cup qualifiers and breaking many defeat records. currently, the chinese team, which has lost two consecutive games, is the only team in group c that has not scored any points, and its qualification situation is critical.

(source: jimu news)

for more exciting information, please download the "jimu news" client from the application market. please do not reprint without authorization. you are welcome to provide news clues, and you will be paid once adopted.