With Shin Tae-yong, the Indonesian coach, using the strong word "dungball soccer" toward China, public opinion toward Branko Ivankovic is still not good.
China won 2-1 in Group C of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup against Indonesia at Qingdao Youth Football Stadium in Qingdao, China on the 15th (Korea time). China, which earned its first win in the third qualifying round, finally brought three points, but it is still at the bottom of the group.
On this day, China played defense-oriented soccer against Indonesia at home. Indonesia's ball share was close to 80%, and the game trend was also unfolding. China counterattacked when it brought the ball, and aimed for a set-piece opportunity.
China's aim hit the mark in this game. In the 21st minute of the first half, Abdouweri scored the first goal as he showed his fighting spirit in the set piece, and in the 44th minute of the first half, Jang Winning scored through a long ball attack. When the second lead occurred, China's two-line defense did not think about going further.
China allowed a comeback goal to Indonesia just before the end of the game, but escaped four consecutive losses by not conceding an equalizer. If you look at the statistics, Indonesia is regrettable. In terms of shooting numbers, Indonesia was far ahead of China, which had only five shots with 14 innings. Indonesia also had a 6-3 advantage in shooting on goal. The share of the game was 76 to 24.
When asked by a reporter who analyzed that Indonesia was vulnerable to China's counterattack after the game, head coach Shin Tae-yong criticized Chinese soccer in a strong tone, saying, `I can't make excuses because I lost two runs, but I didn't know if Chinese soccer was playing dung ball soccer.'
Even with the question that came up earlier, head coach Shin Tae-yong said, `As you can see, today's game was dominated by 7-3. I think it was about 8-2 in the second half. Overall, we lost because we were unlucky. The rest (we) overwhelmed China"In terms of performance, Indonesia was ahead."
China also seems to be sympathizing with coach Shin Tae-yong's critical voice. Calls for Ivankovic to be replaced have not subsided. China's Sohu Dotcom beat Indonesia after the game, but Ivankovic has to go out. We took the lead in the first half, but we didn't play our soccer. In the 60s and 80s, physical weaknesses were revealed, and the opponent was Indonesia. At the end of the game, he strongly criticized Ivankovic, saying, "Even if the players caught the ball, they had no idea what kind of play to play next."
According to China's Sina Sports, a Chinese journalist named Shen Wei has watched all four games in China. If you still have expectations, you should replace Ivankovic first", he insisted on the replacement.
rlaeotlr2024@sportschosun.com
