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Shocking news emerged that the head coach who ruined the Chinese national team could replace coach Choi Kang-hee.
The Chinese Football Association said on the 27th (Korea time) 'The third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico ended, and the contract between the coach and the coaching staff was automatically terminated according to the provisions because the Chinese national soccer team failed to advance to the fourth qualifying round. After deliberation by an expert evaluation committee, the Chinese Football Association has decided that Branco Ivankovic will no longer serve as the head coach of the Chinese men's national soccer team, according to the announcement.
Ivankovic took the helm of China in February 2024. The leadership shown by the Oman national team was highly evaluated. However, coach Ivankovic and China's accompanying him was automatically completed in about a year and four months.
Under Ivankovic, China was a series of falls. I was able to come to the third qualifying round of the World Cup because I was very lucky. The results of the third qualifying round are as everyone knows. China's hopes for the World Cup finals disappeared completely as it performed worse than Indonesia in the third qualifying round. Chinese fans' public opinion toward Ivankovic was not very good.
Coach Ivankovic has achieved such a huge failure in China, but he is being mentioned as a replacement for coach Choi Kang-hee. China's Sohu Dotcom said on the 29th that Shandong Taishan, a traditional powerhouse in the Chinese Super League, is actively in contact with Ivan. Under coach Choi Kang-hee this season, Shandong has had a rather ordinary performance, staying in fifth place with seven wins, three draws and five losses and 24 points in the first half of the league, and moved away from the competition for the championship early on. For Shandong, failing to advance to the Asian Champions League (ACL) for two consecutive seasons is an unacceptable result. The recent series of losses to Tianjin Jinmanhu and Chengdu Rongcheng put Choi Kang-hee's future in jeopardy, and many players in the team expressed dissatisfaction with him and lost support, according to the report.
Rumors of coach Choi Kang-hee's replacement continue to emerge after Shandong was eliminated from the quarterfinals of the Chinese FA Cup. Shandong's performance has not been satisfactory since last season. Coach Choi Kang-hee could have been replaced in Shandong if there was no small achievement of finishing second in the FA Cup. At the end of last season, there were rumors that head coach Choi Kang-hee would be replaced.
Still, the club gave trust to coach Choi Kang-hee. Is it the aftermath of the pressure on his grades. Coach Choi Kang-hee's Shandong has already gone a long way from winning the league, and it has become difficult to go to the Asian tournament next season due to the elimination of the FA Cup quarterfinals. Shandong fans are shouting "Choi Kang-hee Naga" at the stadium and demanding the replacement of the coach.
It is true that coach Choi Kang-hee is in crisis, but why is the replacement Ivankovic. Sohu said 'Ivan took the helm of Shandong in 2009 and led the team for a whopping two years with a 57% winning rate. He is also the only manager in the club's history to win the Chinese league. This beautiful memory of the past is the background behind Sandong's deep affection for Ivankovic, leading him to believe he is capable of leading the team back to glory. The environment with less external interference than the national team also works in his favor.'
If Choi Kang-hee fails to escape the crisis, there is a high possibility that another leader will replace Choi Kang-hee even if he is not Ivankovic.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
