Former Chinese star criticizes the team, new coach Ivankovic runs around looking for players

Sun Jihai is considered the best Chinese player of all time. He played as a full-back and started his career with Dalian Shide in 1995. In the 1998-1999 season, Sun Jihai was loaned to Crystal Palace and became the first Chinese player to play in the Premier League. Sun Jihai then joined Man City in 2002 and stayed at the Etihad Stadium for 6 years.

In the Chinese national team, Sun Jihai is also an outstanding player and has played 80 matches for the national team. The former player born in 1977 was first called up in 1996 and was with the Chinese team at the 2002 World Cup.

When asked about the current Chinese team, Sun Jihai expressed his disappointment: “The current Chinese team does not have any players who can handle the ball properly. Technique is not excellent, skills are not cultivated, and small details are also ignored. These things have made Chinese players almost only in the top 2, top 3 in Asia. But perhaps they do not realize it. Even in the World Cup qualifiers, the Chinese team is still going through difficult matches.

The small details must be practiced from a young age, it cannot come suddenly. If not, when we grow up, the gap will become more obvious. If things continue like this in the future, the gap between Chinese football and Asian countries will become even bigger, let alone compare it with European and South American countries.

The Chinese team has had consecutive bad results recently.

On March 9, coach Ivankovic held his first press conference since being appointed as the head coach of the Chinese national team (February 24). The Croatian coach shared the same opinion as Sun Jihai but remained optimistic. Coach Ivankovic said he had studied the Chinese national team carefully and was ready to create a surprise in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

“The quality of the Chinese national team may not be what it used to be, but I believe that China is fully capable of taking a place in Asia. The Chinese players have improved and our top goal is to become the first team to qualify for the second round of the World Cup. At the same time, we are aiming to be among the top teams in Asia, to become a united and strong team and to officially qualify for the 2026 World Cup,” he said.

Coach Ivankovic gave his first speech since becoming coach of the Chinese national team.

According to Xinhua News Agency, coach Ivankovic is not satisfied with the quality of the Chinese team's players. On March 10 and 11, he and his coaching staff will be divided into 3 groups to watch matches in the China Super League to find new players. Mr. Ivankovic will go to Zhejiang province to watch the match between Shandong Taishan and Beijing Guoan. After that, the coach will continue to Shanghai to discuss with his assistants.

"From my coaching experience and football philosophy, the Chinese team needs to play more aggressively. We need to improve our passing rate, improve our finishing efficiency and be more proactive in our performance. In addition, we also need to change our training methods and communicate more with the players. In football, the results are unpredictable. However, our football philosophy remains unchanged," coach Ivankovic concluded.

Coach Ivankovic will find more players to improve the quality of the Chinese team.

In the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the Chinese team is in Group C with opponents Korea, Thailand and Singapore. After 2 matches, the Chinese team is ranked 3rd (1 win, 1 loss). On March 21 and 26, the team led by coach Ivankovic will have two consecutive matches with the weakest opponent in the group, the Singapore team. The Chinese Football Association also set a goal for him and his players to win all 6 points in these 2 matches.

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