The Chinese Football Association has officially announced its roster for the upcoming World Cup against South Korea in June. The roster is nothing short of “unconventional.
On June 22, the Chinese Football Association took to its official social media to reveal the 29-man roster that will face Thailand on June 6 and South Korea on June 10.
In the attacking third, Wu Lei was joined by another overseas player, Alan-Elkesson, and six strikers were named, 토토사이트 추천 two more than the previous four.
The strikers are Alan (Alan Carvalho), Eikersson (Elkesson), Behram Abdouweli, Feinandou (Fernandinho), Wourei and Xue Weizhun.
Noteworthy is the departure of Zhang Yuning. Zhang Yuning, a key part of the Chinese national team, was injured on May 17 against Changchun Yatai.
After the news broke, he vowed to “rehabilitate quickly so that I can join the national team,” but with the injury expected to take four weeks to heal, he was unable to make the squad.
In his place, China called up Yongliang, a striker who played at the U-23 Asian Cup.
Fernandinho plays for Shandong Taishan. Fernandinho has one goal and three assists in six games for Shandong this season and can play as a winger as well as a center forward.
The problem is that he’s been hampered by injuries lately. Already out for four games, Fernandinho hasn’t played since April 30th. He had two assists in that game, but the injury kept him out for four weeks. He’s back on the roster, but it remains to be seen how quickly he’ll get back to full fitness. So far, he has one goal and three assists in six league games.
The Thailand game in particular is an emergency. With Wu Lei sidelined through suspension, 34-year-old mercenary Alan will be key.
Alan, who returned to the national team after a two-year absence, has been on a scoring spree in the Chinese Super League of late, but he’s not a replacement for Wu Lei. He has exploded for five goals and two assists in 13 league games recently, and has scored in three consecutive games, but he is unlikely to replace Wu Lei (14 goals and one assist in 12 games).
Meanwhile, Behram, who played at the U-23 Asian Cup, is a forward for Shenzhen Feng City. He hasn’t scored in the league this season.
However, he does have the advantage of being physical. He usually creates space for his wingers and is more of a target man than a goal scorer. He is not a player of the match, as his decision-making in the Asian Cup was disastrous.
A loss against Thailand could see China, currently second in the group, punch their ticket to the World Cup. Thailand will face China-Singapore, while China will face Thailand-South Korea.
Will crisis-ridden China give up its ‘8.5’ World Cup tickets if it loses to Thailand? That’s why we’ll be watching China-Thailand on June 6 at the Shenyang Olympic Sports Center, the fifth match of the second round of World Cup qualifying.