Chinese coach points out his team's "weakness" before the match against Vietnam

(Dan Tri) - Speaking before the match with the Vietnamese team, coach Aleksandar Jankovic admitted many weaknesses of his team. He called on the entire Chinese team to show the best spirit to win.

At 6:35 p.m. tomorrow (October 10), the Chinese team will face the Vietnamese team in a friendly match at Dalian Stadium. Fans of the billion-people country hope that the home team can "take revenge" on the Vietnamese team after the loss on February 1 last year in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Coach Jankovic admitted that the Chinese team's biggest weakness lies in the attack (Photo: Manh Quan).

However, coach Aleksandar Jankovic admitted that the Chinese team is facing many worrying problems at the moment. The Serbian strategist said: "Whether judging by the results or the performance on the field, the Chinese team did not meet the requirements in the last two matches (losing to Syria, drawing with Malaysia).

In the last few matches, we have had problems in attack. The players' ability to score goals is not good. When the opponent actively plays defense, we do not have many attacking options. Overall, the team needs to show stronger progress. The whole team needs great motivation to overcome the remaining weaknesses."

Many key players of the Chinese team such as Liu Dianzuo, Zhang Linpeng and Zhu Chenjie were not called up to prepare for the match against the Vietnamese team due to injuries. Talking about the team's injury situation, coach Jankovic shared: "We have high expectations for all players. However, I cannot risk using players who have not recovered from injuries because it is very risky.

China's number one center back, Zhang Linpeng, cannot participate in the match against Vietnam due to injury (Photo: Twitter).

The national team and the club have a very good relationship so we don't want to use injured players. After talking with the clubs, we decided to leave out some players.

Overall, this training session has not changed compared to previous ones. The players have a clear understanding of the team's training process as well as the coach's philosophy. I only have a few small adjustments."

In the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup , the Chinese team is in a difficult group with South Korea, Thailand and the winner of the Singapore/Guam match. Coach Jankovic expressed his determination to overcome this challenge with his students.

"I hope the players have the motivation, the desire and work hard to serve the national team. That is very important. We all want to contribute to Chinese football and are ready for the goal of qualifying for the World Cup," he added.

As for the Vietnamese team, after the match with the Chinese team, Coach Troussier's team will face Uzbekistan (October 13) and South Korea (October 17). In which, the Vietnamese team will face Uzbekistan in a closed stadium and will not be counted in the FIFA rankings.

Dantri.com.vn