According to the plan, the national football team will refocus on August 18 as soon as possible to prepare for the first two rounds of the top 18 matches of the World Preliminary Championships in early September. The national football coaching staff, with Ivankovic as the head coach, plans to recruit about 28 players to participate in this training camp. It is understood that due to the influence of objective factors such as funds and procedures, the progress of the naturalization work of Cangzhou Lions Club player Oscar is not ideal, and Changchun Yatai Club player Serginho will not be able to meet the relevant naturalization conditions until late January next year, so the national football team may not be able to recruit naturalized newcomers within this year. As the national football team will encounter three strong teams in the first three rounds of competition in the round of 18, including Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia, Ivankovic will not give up those experienced veteran players in international competitions while valuing young players with potential and hard work.
Ivankovic returned to Croatia the following day after taking part in the round of 18 draw in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on June 27. Taking advantage of the holiday, the coach is refining the preparation plan for the top 18 and paying attention to the state of the Chinese Super League internationals. Wu Lei scored a hat-trick against Zhejiang last weekend, to which Ivan admitted: "I am not surprised at all, our captain has such ability. ”
According to the usual practice, the national football coaching staff will recruit about 28 players to participate in the new training camp, of which about 4 or 5 players are alternate players for the first two rounds of the round of 18.
Although before this, there were calls from the outside world about the naturalization of Oscar and Serginho, but according to a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily, the progress of Oscar's naturalization work was not satisfactory due to factors such as procedures and funds. It should be noted that at present, the salary limit standards of ordinary local players and foreign players of Chinese Super League clubs are different, and even the amount is far apart, so once Oscar is naturalized, then how its club implements the player's salary standard needs to be agreed upon by all parties. The main body of naturalized players is the club, and once the club is unable to promote the naturalization of players, then the Chinese Football Association will naturally be helpless.
In the eyes of industry insiders, the Chinese team has recruited a number of naturalized attackers, and if it recruits naturalized newcomers, its target should mainly focus on midfielders who can "rush, run, and pass". It is understood that among the many rumored naturalization targets, Zhou Dingyang, a midfielder who plays for Chengdu Rongcheng Club, is a candidate recognized by all walks of life. However, Zhou Dingyang has already represented other AFC member association teams in official competitions such as the Asian preliminaries, so it is unlikely that he will be naturalized.
Judging from the current situation, it is difficult for the Chinese team to recruit naturalized newcomers before the start of the round of 18 in September, and it may not even be able to recruit naturalized newcomers this year. In this case, the coaching staff would have to dig within the existing candidates.
Combined with the last two rounds of the round of 36, Ivankovic has achieved relatively satisfactory results in the use of young players. However, the schedule shows that the Chinese team will meet Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Australia in the first three rounds of the round of 18, that is, the three strongest teams in this group, and two of the games are away, so from the perspective of "grabbing the start", the national football coaching staff is unlikely to take a bigger step in using young players.
According to the plan, Ivankovic will return to China around July 10. Before that, several of his foreign assistants will return first on the 5th. Zheng Zhi, Shao Jiayi, Chen Tao three Chinese assistant coaches on July 4 after participating in the professional coach qualification training examination, will also turn the focus of work back to the national football preparation, Chinese and foreign coaching team members will start this weekend, respectively to the Chinese Super League and the FA Cup to inspect the players, and will be as soon as this month to introduce a new national football training list of about 28 people.
Text/Beiqing Sports Xiao Yun