China had hoped to qualify for the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar as one of the four best third-placed teams. But the hoped-for victory was dashed after the final matches of Group B and C on January 23, leading to coach Jankovic's team being eliminated at the first hurdle.
Chinese team disappoints at Asian Cup 2023
In fact, China did not deserve to advance to the round of 16, having failed to score a goal in three matches in Group A. "Chinese football is sliding into the abyss" was the headline in the Oriental Sports Daily .
Highlight China - Tajikistan | Asian Cup 2023
Their disastrous campaign began with a 0-0 draw against first-time Asian Cup finalists Tajikistan, followed by a similar result against Lebanon, forcing China to pin all their hopes on their final group game against Qatar. Despite fielding a team that included several substitutes, having already qualified, China lost 1-0 before being eliminated. This left coach Jankovic, who had been in charge of China for just 11 months, looking like he was about to be sacked when he returned to his native Serbia rather than return to Beijing with the team.
Coach Jankovic is almost certain to be fired.
According to a source from the Chinese press on January 24, Mr. Jankovic may be fired because this is the 4th time they have been eliminated in the group stage of the Asian Cup, but in previous tournaments, they have won at least 1 match and scored.
Chinese football is facing the abyss
Ahead of the tournament, China’s players watched a television program in which the team’s former coach, Li Tie, said he had bribed his way into the job and was involved in domestic match-fixing. The man who decided on Li Tie, Chen Xuyuan, a former president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), also grimaced on the program. He has also been detained and is under investigation for corruption.
Back on the pitch, one of the few highly-rated players is Tyias Browning, the former Everton defender who became a naturalized player to play for China. The Chinese team still relies on Wu Lei, the 32-year-old striker who has been their biggest hope in attack for many years.
After a barrage of criticism over the team’s elimination, the Chinese press has identified the lack of young talent as one of the biggest problems plaguing the country’s football. And President Xi Jinping’s hopes of China becoming a world football power many years ago are fading.
China's attack failed to score any goals in the 2023 Asian Cup finals
The Global Times noted that the national team’s worst ever Asian Cup performance came in the same week that Shenzhen FC (Chinese Super League – China’s top flight) dissolved due to financial problems. Days earlier, Dalian Pro – led by coach Rafa Benitez from 2019 to 2021, also ceased to exist.
"The club's dissolution and the national team's embarrassing performance give us a clear picture of the current Chinese football landscape," the Global Times said. The paper criticized clubs for wasting money on foreign players and coaches in the past in "blind pursuit of short-term success" when they should have invested in youth football. But the Chinese press also noted that the problem goes deeper than that, reporting that 39 professional clubs have gone bankrupt since 2020, most notably Jiangsu FC shortly after they won the Chinese Super League.
Football experts say that although the Chinese team may be limited and aging, they can still play better than what they showed in Qatar, and have criticized coach Jankovic. "Outsiders think that the Chinese team should at least get through the group stage, but who would have thought that they would not score a single goal in three matches? People don't care why this situation happened in Chinese football. But one thing is for sure: the current coach will not be able to do it," journalist Ma Dexing wrote in Oriental Sports Daily .
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