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| Picture=Copperwood Capture |
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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Chinese legend Sun Ji-yi criticized the Chinese national team's juniors who were eliminated from the World Cup qualifying round.
China's Dong Qiudi reported on the 13th (Korea time) 'Sun Ji-yi commented on the performance of the Chinese national team'
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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China ended the World Cup qualifying round with a 1-0 victory over Bahrain in the 10th Group C match of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup at Longxing Football Stadium in Chongqing on the 10th.
Despite winning the final match, China failed to advance to the World Cup finals. With this elimination, hopes for the sixth consecutive World Cup finals have completely disappeared. The fourth-place leap, which can be hoped for a fourth-round World Cup qualifying round, has already been eliminated by the defeat against Indonesia. This is the first World Cup in North Korea, China, and the U.S. to increase the number of countries that advance to the finals from 32 to 48. However, China has failed to overcome even the Asian stage despite the increased number of tickets to the World Cup, continuing its humiliating history of failing to advance to the World Cup finals for six consecutive times since the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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Sun Ji-yi also criticized the Chinese national team players. "The moment I wear a uniform with the Chinese flag on it, I have to fight hard both inside and outside the stadium. But more important than that is to have skills. That's the most important thing. "This is about the honor of my country. To not work hard and not to be hard is to lack ability. You have to improve yourself stronger so that you can go on the field with a smile. If you don't, you'll cry again. If crying becomes insensitive, his national team career will be over" raised a voice of criticism.
Sun Ji-yi is one of the heroes of Chinese soccer. Sun Jihai, who joined Crystal Palace in 1998 and made his English Premier League debut, built his reputation by playing for Manchester City from 2001 to 2008. After playing for Manchester City for about six seasons, he was appointed as Manchester City Ambassador after retirement and was recognized for his performance. As he watched, it is highly likely that the current junior players of the Chinese national team were seen as too lacking ability.
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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Meanwhile, Song Kai, president of the Chinese Football Association, also acknowledged the disastrous reality of Chinese soccer. Songkai said, `The poor performance of the national team is due to 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"Chinese football has fallen to the third-rate level," he said.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
