Coach Branko Ivankovic, who left the Chinese national team, pointed out the reality of the Chinese national team.
China's Sohu reported on the 28th (Korea time) 'Ivankovic mentioned the Chinese national team in an interview with local media in Croatia.
Sohu said 'Ivankovic was dismissed for failing to lead the Chinese national team to the World Cup finals. He said in the interview that he made remarks that exceeded the expectations of his Chinese fans.
Coach Ivankovic was recently dismissed for failing the Chinese national team to qualify for the World Cup. According to local media in China, a clause is inserted between the Chinese Football Association and Ivankovic that allows him to terminate the contract without penalty if he fails to pass the third qualifying round.
Coach Ivankovic also reported leaving China. Chinese media reported that Ivankovic boarded a flight to Croatia, but no Chinese officials came to see him off. In this situation, it was all the more regrettable that after taking office in the Chinese national team, he received the least salary among the coaches who recently played for the Chinese national team and did not even ask for a penalty.
After leaving China, he recently conducted an interview about the Chinese national team. Ivankovic said "It's really tough to coach in China. Chinese fans have great expectations. Some expectations are unrealistic. However, thanks to my long career, I was able to cope with the pressure calmly. I wanted to lead the Chinese national team back to the World Cup. The last time they went to the World Cup was 2002. The final result was disappointing.'
"From a coach's point of view alone, my role was excellent. In the last World Cup qualifying round, China had only six points, but this time it had nine points. It also brought 17 young players to the national team, making it a competitive team in Asia. Against Australia, we dominated the second half as well."
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| The national soccer team played its first match against China at Yongin Mir Stadium on the 7th. Coach Dejan Zhurjevic of the Chinese national team. Yongin = Reporter Song Jeong-heon @sportschosun.com/2025.07.07/ |
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Meanwhile, the Chinese national team's poor performance at the recent East Asian Cup has led to a re-evaluation of coach Ivankovic. Some Chinese media reported that Ivankovic won after the defeat against Korea. The coach is not a fundamental problem, he said. 'This defeat shows one fact. The problem for the Chinese national team is that it is not a coach. You have to stand in line to apologize to Ivankovic. The Chinese national team was completely defeated by the South Korean second team, and the strikers couldn't even find the goalpost. China's national team is not even close to the level of the East Asian Cup.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
