china's national football team changes coach: antonio becomes candidate for u21 national football team coach
2024-09-16
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original title: calls for a new head coach for the chinese national football team are rising again (topic)
u21 national football coach antonio becomes candidate (subtitle)
text/beijing youth daily reporter xiao zan
the chinese national football team had a very bad start in the 2026 world cup asian qualifiers, losing 1-2 to saudi arabia and finishing at the bottom of the group with two consecutive defeats. although there are still eight rounds to go in this stage, the chinese national football team is mentally prepared for the losing streak, but the use of the head coach ivankovic has been questioned by all parties, and calls for him to be "resigned" have been heard one after another.
according to beijing youth daily, the chinese football association has considered changing the coach to stop the team's decline, but due to objective factors such as time constraints and huge costs, there are not many suitable coaches for the football association to choose from. under such circumstances, the football association is likely to choose from the current national team coaches to "put out the fire" as a "transitional coach". among them, antonio pouch, the spanish coach of the u21 national football team, will be the main candidate.
ivan's deployment of troops sparked controversy
after the china-saudi arabia match, almost no one outside the country blamed the chinese national football team for "not working hard", and the doubts and criticisms were mainly directed at ivankovic. many people could not understand why ivan used his troops conservatively and refused to make substitutions to strengthen the offense when the chinese national football team was once on the rise. in fact, since ivan led the team to play against singapore in the round of 36 for the first time in march this year, his use of troops has caused controversy. and with two consecutive defeats in the round of 18, the voices of doubt have intensified. this has also put ivan and the chinese football association under tremendous pressure.
on the morning of the 10th, before the china-saudi arabia match, the relevant leaders of the chinese football association made a special trip to the national football team's residence to cheer the team up and put forward clear requirements for the generals and coaches. in other words, if the team's spirit is not good in the china-saudi arabia match, then accountability will follow. for ivan, if the performance of the team cannot satisfy the fans and all sectors of society, then "dismissal" can only be the only result.
the low morale of the chinese national football team cannot be ignored
the chinese football association has always been cautious about whether to change the coach. on the one hand, even though the national football team suffered two consecutive defeats, there are still 8 rounds to go. in other words, ivan has not yet "failed to complete the stage of leading the team as agreed in the contract." on the other hand, the various issues involved in the change of coach are complicated. in addition to dealing with contract issues with the current coaching team, the football association also has doubts about whether it can find a suitable successor in the short term. after all, if the coach is changed for the sake of changing the coach, once the effect is not good, the team will not only be unable to get out of the predicament, but the decision maker who made the change of coach must also bear responsibility. with only one month between the second and third rounds of the top 18, the risk of a hasty change of coach is actually very high.
however, judging from the current situation, the chinese football association has reached the point where it has to change the head coach. in addition to the pressure from public opinion and fans, the low morale of the national football team is also a fact that cannot be ignored. data shows that the national football team has played 6 games under ivan, with a record of 1 win, 2 draws and 3 losses. since the last round of the round of 36 away to south korea, the three consecutive defeats have caused certain doubts within the team about ivan's use of troops. if the head coach is not widely trusted, not only will the locker room be out of control, but the effectiveness of the team's technical and tactical execution during the game will also be greatly reduced, and this is what the chinese football association is most worried about.
"internal tapping" to take over the national football team
considering various factors, the chinese football association is more likely to choose one of the current national men's football team coaches to take over the national football team. the serbian coach of the 2005 u19 national football team, djurdjevic, and the spanish coach of the 2003 u21 national football team, antonio, are both relatively suitable candidates.
however, the u19 national football team will compete in the final stage of the u20 asian cup in february next year, and as the age-appropriate team for the 2028 los angeles olympics, it bears the heavy responsibility of impacting the olympics. at this juncture, the use of djurjevic to "put out the fire" of the national football team will have an adverse impact on the preparations for the u19 national football team. the u21 national football team will not participate in the 7th u23 asian cup qualifiers until september next year. it is worth noting that antonio was able to be hired by the chinese football association again, mainly because of his overall satisfactory performance in the past. during the u20 asian cup last year, antonio led the original u20 national football team in the 2003 age group to the top 8. the current international player baihelamu is one of the players antonio reuses. after coaching for the past few years, antonio has also gained a considerable understanding of the situation of chinese football.
in the changsha international football invitational tournament that just ended, antonio led the u21 national football team to a record of 2 wins and 1 draw and won the runner-up. although his defense-oriented and simple-playing tactics have been questioned by the outside world, the main problem that plagues the current chinese team is precisely the poor defense. overall, antonio will be the main candidate to take over the national football team at the moment. in addition, the football association can also save costs by selecting national team coaches.
it is understood that ivankovic returned to beijing on the afternoon of the 11th and will then communicate with the chinese football association on work. whether the football association decides to change the coach or what kind of new coach to choose, the answer will soon be clear.
co-ordinator/wang yong
source: beijing youth daily
