BEIJING, Sept 11 (Askume) – Chinese coach Ivankovic said he will not resign despite his country’s 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in Dalian on Tuesday, their second consecutive defeat in two games in the third stage of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers.
Croatia will need to finish in the top two in Group C to reach the finals directly for the second time since 2002, while a third or fourth place finish will see them through to the next round of qualifiers.
In last week’s group opener in Saitama, China lost 7-0 to Japan thanks to Hassan Kadish’s 90th-minute header and Ivankovic is confident of being up to the task .
According to Xinhua News Agency, when Ivankovic was asked whether he would resign, he said, ‘This question should not be asked to me.’
“We lost badly in the first game, but we improved in the second game,” he said.
“There are some strong opponents in this group and our goal is to get into the top four. We are working on that with eight games remaining.”
Ivankovic also defended himself for not making an early substitution against Saudi Arabia, who were reduced to 10 men after Mohamed Kanno was taken off in the 19th minute.
“The team is very well organised on the field, so I decided not to make any changes,” he said. “The game is very complex, so I need to provide some options to deal with different situations.”
The match was held in Dalian, and the Chinese Football Association announced that 38 players, including three former internationals, and five club officials were banned for life for fixing the match.
The latest in a series of anti-corruption actions in Chinese football will further damage the reputation of Chinese football.
The task will not be easy for the bottom-placed team in the group as they will play their next match on October 10 against Australia in Adelaide, who will be desperate to get their first win of the season.
“We will analyse our opponents carefully and strive for a better result,” Ivankovic said.
