Zhang to play at National Games

China forward in controversy for skipping intl duty

China international Zhang Yuning will play for his hometown team Zhejiang in the under-20 soccer competition at the National Games in Tianjin, after his failure to show up led to him being dumped from the national team.

Zhang, now playing for Bundesliga side Werder Bremen, was summoned to represent China in the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign, but didn’t show up for the required deadline of the team, triggering coach Marcello Lippi to drop the young forward.

Zhang said his club did not approve his early release to the national team and later Werder Bremen said “the club’s late reply was the reason for Zhang not making the trip.”

Under FIFA regulations, clubs are required to release club internationals four days ahead of match day, although China often calls on its players to gather earlier than that as the team fights against the poor results in their campaign.

China’s World Cup hopes are still alive, by the thinnest of threads, after nine games, in which they won only two and lost four, ranking second from bottom in the six-team group.

China need to win over Qatar on Tuesday and hope Uzbekistan and Syria both lose in their respective matches.

Speculation has been rampant over Zhang’s motives for skipping the national team session.

When China were struggling in the previous-round qualification facing a do-ordie situation, then coach Gao Hongbo summoned Zhang to the national team but he declined, saying his ability wasn’t strong enough to represent the senior national team.

But after China made it into the current round, Zhang came to the training session without citing any problems over his ability.

In an interview with Titan Sports recently, Lippi said one of his problems in the national team is that there’s no alternative central forward.

Zhang has made nine appearances for China since 2016 but only scored two goals in a friendly game, but is often considered the only Chinese international who can play as a traditional center forward.

Zhejiang qualified for the knockout phase after claiming two group wins. They will play against Hubei on Tuesday, the same day as the Chinese national team play away to Qatar.