Argentina team returns to China for the second time, still not meeting the host team

This is the second time Argentina has played in China, after a 2-0 win against Australia in June 2023. This was originally scheduled for China to face the reigning World Cup champions. However, due to the country's football being plagued by corruption scandals, the plan was changed and Australia took its place.

Messi and the Argentina team are about to return to China, but still cannot meet the home team.

In June 2023, Chinese football was shaken by the arrest of the president of the Chinese Football Association, Mr. Chen Xuyuan, on charges of corruption. The national team coach, Li Tie, was also arrested on similar charges. Both men are now being prosecuted after admitting bribery, and face long prison sentences.

At the 2023 Asian Cup, the Chinese team did not play well, with 2 draws and 1 loss, not scoring any goals, and was eliminated early in the group stage. The future of coach Aleksandar Jankovic (Serbian) is still undecided, although there are many rumors that he will be fired next February.

Meanwhile, on January 31, AFA announced that the Argentina national team had officially reached an agreement to return to China to play two international friendly matches against Nigeria and Ivory Coast in March, with the specific match date and time to be announced later.

"This information once again makes many Chinese fans very disappointed, because this country's team still cannot meet the Argentina team even though it is the second time they have come here to compete. The opportunity for the Chinese team to meet the Argentina team with the famous player Messi playing, will probably be a long time away. There may even be no chance left," said the Spanish newspaper AS .

The Argentina team will compete in China and then go to Indonesia in June 2023.

However, there is a legitimate reason why the Chinese team cannot meet the Argentine team in the upcoming FIFA Days. Because in March, the Chinese team will play two official matches in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, both against the Singapore team (first leg on March 21 and second leg on March 26).

These are two matches that the Chinese team must win to regain the trust of fans after their total defeat at the 2023 Asian Cup. Meanwhile, the Singapore team has just fired coach Takayuki Nishigaya and is about to appoint a new coach, Mr. Tsutomu Ogura, 57 years old, also Japanese.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-argentina-lan-thu-2-tro-lai-trung-quoc-van-khong-gap-doi-chu-nha-185240131105753993.htm