On January 3rd, the Chinese men's national football team announced its latest training squad list. From the 9th to the 18th of this month, the national team will be training in Haikou. This 32-man squad sees the continued absence of top star Wu Lei due to injury, while head coach Ivanković has called up many newcomers to continue the process of rejuvenation.
Compared to the previous squad list announced in November last year for the preparation of the World Cup qualifiers' Asian zone 18-team round against Bahrain and Japan, there are significant changes:
Liu Dianzuo, Jiang Guangtai, and Wu Lei did not make it into this squad list. Coach Ivan has called up eight new faces: Jian Tao, Han Pengfei, Wu Shaocong, Wu Mitijiang, Huang Zhengyu, Maiwulang, Yang Liyu, and Hou Yongyong. Of course, this is just a training squad list, and Coach Ivan's goal is to better understand and familiarize himself with the players through training, laying the groundwork for selecting players for the upcoming 18-team round.
There are two major surprises in this national team squad list:
Firstly, the national team has become younger. The average age of this 32-man squad is 26.7 years old, with only goalkeeper Wang Dalei being from the 80s generation. Eleven players, including Jian Tao, Zhu Chenjie, Jiang Shenglong, Hu Hetao, Wu Mitijiang, Xie Weneng, and Tao Qianglong, are post-00s. Two young players, Maiwulang Mijiti and Wu Mitijiang Yuspup, were both born in 2004. The rise of the post-00s generation has become a mainstay.
Looking at the age structure, the selection of players for the national team's three lines is very reasonable. In the goalkeeper position, 35-year-old Wang Dalei and 33-year-old Yan Junling are veterans, while 25-year-old Han Jiaqi and 23-year-old Jian Tao represent the new generation. On the defensive line, there are both young players in their early 20s like Wu Mitijiang and Hu Hetao, as well as experienced players over 30 like Yang Zexiang, Han Pengfei, and Li Lei. In midfield and attack, there are players from all age groups between 20 and 31 years old.
Secondly, the inclusion of Hou Yongyong. As early as February 2019, Hou Yongyong completed his naturalization and represented Beijing Guoan in the Chinese Super League. However, in the past six years, Hou Yongyong has never been called up to the national team. In February 2023, Hou Yongyong joined the Norwegian league. Last season, Hou Yongyong contributed 19 goals and 8 assists in 29 league games, winning the Golden Boot and Best Player awards. Fans are looking forward to the performance of this naturalized player in the national team.