The atmosphere of the Chinese national soccer team is chaotic.

China’s Sohu.com reported on the 24th (Korea time) that "the coach of the Chinese national soccer team is facing a situation in which he cannot autonomously determine the roster of the national team players."

On the 14th, the Chinese Football Association dismissed coach Branco Ivanković after China failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America. It has been reported that Dejan Jurić, who led the Chinese under-20 (U-20) national team in February of this year and reached the quarterfinals of the 2025 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, has been appointed as the successor. For now, it is planned to temporarily hand over the reins.

China will participate in the 2025 East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship (East Asian Cup), which will be held in Korea from July 7 to 16. They will play their first match against Korea on the 7th, followed by matches against Japan and Hong Kong.

Sohu.com noted, "According to recent reports from various Chinese media, Jurić has become the new coach of the men's national soccer team. He will lead China in the East Asian Cup. However, prior to his appointment, China had already submitted a preliminary list of 50 players to the AFC, which was not prepared by Jurić but by the former coach Ivanković. Coach Jurić is reportedly quite disappointed with this situation."

It was added, "The 50-player preliminary list submitted by coach Ivanković cannot be changed. In other words, coach Jurić must choose the final list of 23 players to participate in the East Asian Cup from this list of 50. If there are players he prefers and wants to bring to the tournament who are not on this list, he cannot select them."

Sohu.com has also been attentive to Korea's roster announcement.

The media forecasted, "The Korean national team has already announced the roster of 23 players to participate in the East Asian Cup. Most of them are players from the K League, and among them, 2 to 3 are main players of the national team. In simple terms, Korea is sending a secondary-level team. Japan is also likely to participate mainly with players from their domestic league."

It was pointed out that "even in a situation where both Korea and Japan are fielding domestic players in the East Asian Cup, it is still not easy for the Chinese national team to achieve victory." It continued, "In this situation, the only strategy that coach Jurić can employ is to solidify the defense and look for counterattack opportunities. He plans to make Wang Yidong the core of the team and assign him an important role. Wang Yidong played as the main striker when coach Jurić led the U-20 national team in the past. The two have developed a deep synergy. If Wang Yidong can fully demonstrate his skills, there is a possibility that the Chinese national team could defeat Japan and Korea to win the East Asian Cup."

[OSEN]