The training camp for the Chinese men's national football team has concluded. During this training session, a statement made by Wei Shihao during an interview left a deep impression on many people. A large number of fans are praising Wei Shihao, who was once known as a troublemaker in the national team, for his transformation!
What did Wei Shihao say that evoked such feelings from the fans? In his interview, Wei Shihao discussed two points. First, he believes that the current atmosphere within the Chinese men's national football team is the best among all previous national teams. Second, he thinks that head coach Ivanković can lead the Chinese men's national football team to qualify for the World Cup finals.
Honestly, it's not easy for Wei Shihao, who is already 29 years old, to say these words! During the Lippi era, Wei Shihao was just starting out, and Lippi did not trust him. After all, Wei Shihao at that time had a fiery personality and often lost his temper during matches, becoming a hidden landmine for the Chinese men's national football team. You never knew when he might explode. Later, under Li Tie's leadership, Wei Shihao was not favored by Li Tie. After all, Li Tie himself had problems. Due to Wei Shihao's disobedience, Li Tie also excluded him from the national team.
We don't know how Ivanković managed to win over Wei Shihao! After the first two games of the top 18 qualifiers ended with two consecutive losses for the Chinese men's national football team, media reports revealed that the Chinese Football Association communicated with the players about the coaching change. At that time, Wei Shihao expressed support for Ivanković to continue coaching. There are reports that before subsequent matches, Wei Shihao acted more like the captain of the national team, emphasizing to his teammates the importance of following the tactical arrangements of head coach Ivanković. After the Chinese men's national football team defeated the Indonesian men's national football team and the Bahraini men's national football team, the situation for qualifying also underwent a significant change. To achieve such results, on one hand, Ivanković indeed has some skills. Of course, Wei Shihao's role in this must not be small.
Currently, Wei Shihao has become Ivanković's top favorite player under his command. In a recent interview, Ivanković also lavishly praised Wei Shihao's performance. It's a case of "you give me peaches, I give you plums!" Wei Shihao and Ivanković can be said to have achieved mutual success and trust!
For this national team training camp, Ivanković is very satisfied with the results. For the match against the Saudi Arabian men's national football team in March, Ivanković has made many targeted arrangements. The focus of this training session was on practicing the defense of set pieces for the national team. When playing away against the Saudi Arabian men's national football team, the goal of the Chinese men's national football team is to score points.
On the current Group C leaderboard, aside from the Japanese men's national football team, which has accumulated 16 points and almost secured a promotion spot, the remaining teams - the Australian men's national football team, Indonesian men's national football team, Saudi Arabian men's national football team, Bahraini men's national football team, and Chinese men's national football team - all have the opportunity to compete for the top four spots in the group, or even second place. After all, there is only a difference of 1 point! Will the Chinese men's national football team be able to achieve their goal of entering the World Cup finals? We'll have to wait and see!