Underdogs China will not be bullied by World Cup qualifying rivals, vows coach Ivankovic
- China face uphill battle to get through next qualifying stage, but head coach Branko Ivankovic says side ‘has quality’ to compete with best
China will go into the next phase of Asia’s qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup with head coach Branko Ivankovic pledging they will not be pushovers, despite facing regional heavyweights Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia.
The Chinese kept dreams of a place in Canada, Mexico and the United States alive by the narrowest of margins when the previous round concluded earlier this month, advancing ahead of Thailand with a better head-to-head record over the Southeast Asians.
Ivankovic’s appointment led to a turnaround in the team’s fortunes, but an even tougher task now lies ahead, with the underdogs also up against Bahrain and Indonesia in Group C.
“We are very happy to be among the best Asian teams and we will prepare ourselves as well as possible,” Ivankovic told the Post. “The most important thing is for players to come into any game with full self-confidence and to be positive about how we can beat our opponent, it doesn’t matter if it’s Japan, Australia or Saudi Arabia.
“It will be very tough but I’m the coach and we have come here to play qualifying games. We want to do something. We have the quality to be very competitive with any team in our group.”
The experienced Croatian, who took Iran to the World Cup in Germany in 2006, has overseen a major mood change within the Chinese game since replacing Serbia’s Aleksandar Jankovic.
Jankovic was sacked in February after the Chinese crashed out of the Asian Cup in January at the end of the group stage without scoring a goal, and Ivankovic has implemented a number of changes to the squad.
He recalled Brazil-born naturalised players Elkeson, Alan Carvalho and Fernandino, while also giving debuts to Shandong Taishan midfielder Xie Wenneng and Shenzhen Peng City striker Behram Abduweli, who scored the vital equaliser in this month’s 1-1 draw with Thailand.
“I don’t want to think about what has gone on in the past,” Ivankovic said. “I changed some players with different reasons and I’m very satisfied with these new players. They showed something new; action, motivation, fighting until the end of the game.
“They do something for the national team and the people. This is important for me. I expect to use maybe some new players and they will bring fresh blood to the national team and this is important.
“Of course, this generation should show that they deserve to play at a high level, especially in Asia, and then we will see what’s going on.”
Ivankovic said more players could be naturalised to further strengthen his squad and stressed his team would not give up easily on efforts to secure the nation’s first appearance at the World Cup since their debut in South Korea back in 2002.
“We’re not going to go into any game with our hands up,” he said. “We want to fight against any team from the first minute to the 90th minute and we will try to make some surprise. I’m sure we have a team which can do something like that.
“This is the most important, for the players to believe in what we have started.
“We have qualified for this last stage of the preliminary rounds and this is something that gives big satisfaction for us and I expect it will help the players have more self-confidence and to come to the pitch with the idea of how to beat our opponent.”
