Chinese players raise questions when coming to Indonesia, 2 stars are removed from the list

CNN Indonesia reported that the Chinese team arrived in Jakarta on the night of June 2, but some players raised questions because they wore masks for unknown reasons. The team also only had 25 players instead of the 27 announced.

What are the Chinese team worried about when coming to Indonesia?

"It is still unknown why some Chinese players are wearing masks," CNN Indonesia asked. The Chinese team that arrived in Jakarta on June 2 to prepare for the decisive match against Indonesia at 8:45 p.m. on June 5 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in the penultimate round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia also lacked two top stars, striker Wu Lei and Liu Ruofan (both from Shanghai Port Club) due to injury.

Will coach Kluivert help the Indonesian team continue to beat the Chinese team after the 1-0 victory over Bahrain?

Photo: Reuters

In particular, Wu Lei's absence is a big shock for the Chinese team, as he is a key and veteran striker, having scored 36 goals in 99 appearances for the national team.

Coach Branko Ivankovic reportedly waited until the last minute to bring Wu Lei to Indonesia to compete, but was unsuccessful, after he narrowed the list down to 27 players. In the end, the Chinese team went to the away match with only 25 players, after the remaining striker Liu Ruofan also failed to recover from injury.

Instead, the Chinese team still has notable pillars such as captain goalkeeper Wang Dalei, along with 3 naturalized players including Serginho (Brazilian origin), Tyias Browning (British origin) and Yang Mingyang (Switzerland). In addition, there are 2 young strikers attracting attention, Wang Yudong and Liu Chengyu (both only 18 years old). Of which, Yudong has only played for the team once, while Chengyu is called up for the first time.

In addition, the Chinese team still retains player Zhang Yuning, who scored the decisive goal in the 2-1 win over Indonesia in the first leg in October 2024. But the player who scored the opening goal, Behram Abduweli, is absent after the 0-2 loss to Australia on March 25. Meanwhile, coach Branko Ivankovic also recalled veteran players such as Zhu Chenjie, Li Lei, Wang Shangyuan and Wei Shihao.

In Group C of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, the Chinese team is at the bottom of the table with 6 points. They no longer have a chance to compete for an official ticket to the final round, but still have a chance to compete for 3rd or 4th place to enter the 4th qualifying round to continue to have hope.

If they lose to Indonesia (ranked 4th with 9 points), China will be officially eliminated. China still has hope to enter the 4th qualifying round, if they beat Indonesia and the final match against Bahrain.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian team still has hope of competing directly for a ticket to the 2026 World Cup, but it is very fragile. They need to win the remaining two matches against China and Japan (20 points to secure a ticket to the 2026 World Cup). Besides, they also depend on the results of competitors such as Australia (13 points, second place) and Saudi Arabia (third place, 10 points).

Therefore, the most feasible goal of the Indonesian team is still to maintain its current 4th position, to enter the 4th qualifying round to continue fighting for the goal of winning a ticket to the 2026 World Cup.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cau-thu-trung-quoc-gay-thac-mac-khi-den-indonesia-2-ngoi-sao-bi-gach-ten-185250603091738939.htm