Chinese soccer has started to make excuses for its poor performance again.
On the 14th, the Chinese Football Association dismissed coach Branco Ivankovic after the Chinese national team failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup.
Possible successors among South Korean coaches like Shin Tae-yong and Seo Jung-won have been mentioned. However, Chinese media pressed the panic button, stating, 'South Koreans cannot be considered.'
Ultimately, China's choice was another European. China announced that it would temporarily promote Dejan Jurjevic, who has been in charge of the U20 Chinese national team, to the head coach of the senior national team. Jurjevic’s debut stage is expected to be the 2025 EAFF E-1 Championship, also known as the East Asian Cup, held in Yongin, Korea, in July.
Chinese media is publishing articles daily pointing out the fundamental causes of Chinese soccer's failures. Among them, the reason the Chinese national team cannot appoint a top-tier European coach has come to light.
'Football Night' reporter Wang Nan noted, 'The budget available for the Chinese national team's coach appointment is only 1-1.2 million euros (15-19 billion won). This amount includes not only the coach's salary but the entire coaching staff. It is woefully insufficient to bring in a world-class coach.'
In fact, former coach Ivankovic reportedly was able to join the Chinese national team after cutting his salary by one-third. The media pointed out, 'Ivankovic's salary was much lower than Yankovic's. It was only one-third of what he earned in Oman.'
The excuse for Chinese soccer's problems is that it is due to hiring low-quality coaches. However, a coach's ability does not correlate with their salary. Despite claiming to want to learn advanced soccer, Chinese soccer continues to bring in Western coaches but repeatedly fails. This is because the fundamental issues remain unchanged.
China even brought in world-renowned coach Marcelo Lippi, yet could not achieve the long-desired goal of attending the World Cup. Ultimately, the cause must be found elsewhere, not just with the coach. However, Chinese media continues to focus solely on the coaches’ salaries.
'Football Night' explained, 'China could not afford to bring in coach Carlos Queiroz. They also considered Algeria's Petkovic but ruled him out due to his lack of experience in Asian football.'
Ultimately, the reason China promoted coach Dejan Jurjevic is also due to money. If the current situation of China prevents it from making bold investments due to a lack of funds, changing the coach will not necessarily lead to significant changes.
[OSEN]