After 4 months of silence, on November 6, the position of head coach of the Chinese national team was finally determined.

Sina reported that the Chinese Football Association (CFA) chose Shao Jiayi to sit in the hot seat, a somewhat surprising decision.

Sina sources said that Shao Jiayi surpassed his friend Zheng Zhi and a European coach to lead China.

Shao Jiayi.jpg
Shao Jiayi becomes the new head coach of the Chinese national team. Photo: Sina

With this choice, Shao becomes the next young Chinese coach to lead the national team in recent years, after Li Tie and Li Xiaopeng.

After losing 0-1 to Indonesia in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in June, thereby saying goodbye to the North American tournament, Mr. Ivankovic quietly resigned.

In the process of finding a new captain, CFA announced a very strict selection criteria.

One of the most important criteria is "must have experience leading the national team in the finals of official tournaments organized by FIFA or AFC (Asian Football Confederation); or have experience leading in strong championships in Europe or Asia!" .

At that time, many fans thought that the Chinese team would most likely be led by a European coach, or at least from the Old Continent.

Legend Fabio Cannavaro is considered the leading candidate thanks to his experience working with Chinese football .

However, last month the former Italy midfielder signed for Uzbekistan – the team that has qualified for the 2026 World Cup.

The CFA eventually selected Shao Jiayi, who played in the 2002 World Cup and is considered one of the stars of China's golden generation of football at the beginning of this century.

Shao was the hero who led China to the final of the 2004 Asian Cup (the best achievement in history, similar to 1984), with 3 goals. He, along with teammates Zheng Zhi and Zhao Junzhe, were included in the best team of the tournament.

The 45-year-old former midfielder worked as an assistant for the U19 and national teams, as well as briefly managing the Chinese national team.

Shao Jiayi will have to build a completely new foundation for the Chinese team, aiming for the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/tuyen-trung-quoc-chon-shao-jiayi-lam-hlv-truong-moi-2460512.html