China News Service, Beijing, March 18 (Reporter Bian Liqun) At noon on the 18th, the national football team flew from Shenzhen to Singapore to start another World Cup qualifying trip.

　　At 20:30 on March 21st, Beijing time, the national football team will play against the Singapore team in an away game. This is also the first show of the national football team in the Ivankovic era. Whether it can start smoothly is crucial.

　　In any case, winning away from home is a task that the national football team must complete.

  New national football coach Ivankovic meets with the media.

Photo by reporter Tong Yu

new look

　　The national football team started training in Shenzhen on March 11. The team's main task at this stage is still to adjust the skills and tactics. After all, Ivankovic took over the team for less than a month.

Counting the match against the Singapore team, he only led the team for 10 days of training.

　　Judging from the training these days, the atmosphere of the national football team is relatively active.

After an unsatisfactory Asian Cup trip at the beginning of the year, the national football team started the next World Cup qualifying journey with a brand-new look after some adjustments.

　　After Ivankovic took office, a major feature of the national football team is that it is relatively open.

While in Shenzhen, the team's daily training was open to the media for a period of time, and interviews were arranged with new and old national football players such as Zhang Linpeng, Wu Lei, Wang Zhen'ao, Cheng Jin, Exon, and Zhu Chenjie.

　　Talking about his feelings about the new coach, Zhang Yuning revealed that the head coach is more easy-going and allows the players more time to prepare for training.

"I have been understanding the coach's tactical intentions in the past few days. He particularly emphasized that he hopes we can use our imagination and creativity and believe in ourselves more."

　　Wu Lei said that Ivankovic pays close attention to details and is very strict, but he is more humorous in his daily life.

  Data map: Wu Lei during the game.

Image source: Visual China

New lineup

　　The day before the trip to Singapore, the national football team drew up a list of 26 players. Li Shuai, Li Ang, Li Ke, Zhao Bo and Xie Weneng, who were previously on the training list, missed the final list due to injuries and other reasons.

　　The retained new faces of the national football team, Wang Zhen'ao, Li Yuanyi, and Cheng Jin, as well as the returning players such as Deng Hanwen, Micro Motion, and Fernando, have added some value to the right back and midfield positions that have always seemed a little stretched before. thickness.

At least in the two games against Singapore, there is no need to worry about the selection of personnel in these positions.

It is worth looking forward to whether Fernando, whose condition has improved, can bring some changes in the frontcourt.

　　The much-watched personnel changes in the roster are Li Ke, who was ultimately lost, and Exon, who stayed.

Both players have been troubled by injuries before. Li Ke missed the first round of the Chinese Super League and only returned in the second round. Exxon has not played yet.

　　Ivankovic explained his choice. He believed that Li Ke suffered injuries before the season and was not in his best condition yet. The team has many options for the midfielder position, such as Wang Shangyuan, Gao Tianyi, etc. But the team doesn't have many options at the forward position.

Exxon has basically recovered and may not be able to play the full 90 minutes, but I believe that as long as he plays 5 or 10 minutes, he can have a positive effect on the team. His arrival is of great significance.

  Data map: Exxon.

Photo by reporter Luo Yunfei

new beginning

　　For the new national football team, it will face the Singapore team consecutively on the road and at home, and scoring all 6 points is a task that must be completed.

　　In a previous interview, Ivankovic said: "We are the protagonists in the match against the Singapore team. We need to play our own football philosophy and play our own tactics. The Singapore team definitely wants to play their football. I ask our players Just focus on your own performance and don’t think about other things.”

　　The last time the national football team played against the Singapore team was in a friendly match in 2013. The national football team defeated the opponent 6:1 at home, and the game happened to be in Tianjin, the home of the next World Cup preliminaries.

In the 2011 World Cup preliminaries, the national football team defeated the Singapore team 2:1 at home and 4:0 away.

　　Times have changed, and the reference significance of these duels is not particularly great.

In the previous two World Cup preliminaries, the Singapore team lost to South Korea 0:5 away from home and lost to Thailand 1:3 at home.

In early February this year, the opponent completed a coaching change, which also brought some uncertainty to this game.

　　For the national football team, if they perform normally, they still have a great chance to score all 3 points. What is important is whether Ivankovic can revive the team's spirit and face this crucial battle with a peaceful attitude.

(over)