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| XinhuaYonhap News |
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| 중계화면 캡쳐 |
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Chinese national soccer team coach Franco Ivankovic left China after the contract was terminated, Chinese media reported.
Multiple Chinese media outlets, including the Beijing Youth Daily, reported on the 14th that `The Chinese Football Association unilaterally terminated Ivankovic's contract under the terms of the contract\' Ivankovic's contract yesterday afternoon (13th) and left China for Qatar early today (14th) morning'
'Beijing Youth Daily' states that the contract signed by the two sides had clear goals for the team's performance at each stage of the World Cup qualification. If the Chinese national team fails to advance to the World Cup finals, the KFA can terminate the contract with Ivankovic without compensation, the report said.
There was no disagreement between the two sides. 'The rumor that Ivankovic's side wants a penalty is outrageous,' he added.
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| XinhuaYonhap News |
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Croatian coach Ivankovic was appointed as the head coach of the Chinese national team in February last year with a mission to advance to the World Cup finals. He received high marks for his career as a coach and coach in various 'national teams', including the Croatian national team, the Iranian national team, and the Oman national team. The main background of his appointment was that he was familiar with the Chinese stage by leading Shandong Taishan from 2009 to 2011 and had a high understanding of Asian soccer as he has been active on the Asian stage for the past decade.
However, China went downhill under Ivankovic. After a continued slump in the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup, the team lost 0-1 in the ninth match against Indonesia on the 6th, confirming its elimination from the World Cup qualifying round for the sixth consecutive time. It has been 38 years since China lost to Indonesia.
Coach Ivankovic played 14 A-match games in China and had only a 28.57% win rate (4 wins, 2 draws and 8 losses). It was well-received for actively using young resources such as Wang Yu-dong (Ji-dong) and laying the groundwork for generational change, but faced tremendous criticism for failing to take control of the team and, above all, failing to produce results. China's 1.4 billion people wanted only to play in the World Cup, which has increased to 48 countries.
Song Kai, president of the Chinese Football Association, said, `The national team has performed poorly because of poor leadership. The goal of the game was not achieved, and the players were not properly nurtured"In the past, China was regarded as the best technical team in Asia. But now it has fallen into third- or fourth-rate football in Asia. There is no comparison between Australia and Japan." Although he did not mention Ivankovic's future, he gave a nuance that it was time for a change.
As a result, the Chinese national team plans to participate in the East Asian Cup in Yongin, South Korea, in July under the new coach or temporary coaching staff. From July 7 to 16, four teams from Korea, Japan, China and Hong Kong will compete for the East Asian Cup men's team.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
