"The level difference from Korea is huge. SON-Lee Kang-in couldn't play at another level."

China's "ZBO Dotcom" reported on the 16th (Korea Standard Time), "Jang Yuning, Dai Wai Chun, and Chen Zhao, who were convened in preparation for the Asian Cup, mentioned the gap with Korean soccer," adding, "They said in one voice that the basic weight class is too different from Korea."

In the mid-to-late 2010s, the Chinese national soccer team called for "strikes in soccer," but ended up with only quantitative growth instead of qualitative growth. Although the team invested huge annual salaries to attract foreign star players and coaches, the team steadily declined as its players hoped to stay in Korea instead of going overseas.

Nevertheless, the Chinese national team, which boasted that it would reach some level in Asia even if it was lagging behind Korea, Japan and Iran until the 2000s, has been suffering from a fierce chase in Southeast Asia since the 2020s. In fact, it lost 1-3 to Vietnam in the final qualifying round for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

China, which was included in the second regional qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA North-Central U.S. World Cup, along with South Korea, Thailand and Singapore, is considered an easy target against Southeast Asian teams. After Thailand lost 1-2 at home in the first round, it replaced coach Alexandro Paul King.

China, which met South Korea in the second home game with great momentum due to its victory over Thailand, lost 0-3 due to overwhelming differences in skills. The game showed a wide gap in skills beyond the score difference. Coach Jankovic and the players all admitted their defeat as the game showed a gap in skills.

Shortly after the match against Korea, Sohu Dotcom of China said, "The gap between China and Korea was quite wide. It was overwhelming in all aspects including Korean technology, tactics, and personal skills. Korean players in China are already used to the trend of the Chinese Super League, but Korea is following the trend of the Premier League, League 1, and Bundesliga. We are already far behind."

Chinese players appeared in documentaries on their own media outlet "CCTV" and once again acknowledged their differences in skills with Korean players. Prospects who were recognized for their skills overseas in China mentioned the gap beyond the score in one voice.

First of all, Zhang Yuning, who plays for Beijing Guoan across West Bromwich, Bremen and Denhaq, also admitted that he did nothing against Korean players. Dao Wai-chun (Shanghai Shenhua), who joined Wolverhampton in Hong Kong in the past, recalled the match at the time, saying, "I couldn't compete with Korean players at all."

Dao Wai-chun said, "I can't do anything against Korea. In particular, the three-top players in the front, Son Heung-min, Cho Kyu-sung and Hwang Hee-chan, were overwhelmingly strong," adding, "In particular, Lee Kang-in looked like Messi because the ball stuck to his feet."

Chinese netizens also seem to be in deep shock at the self-inflicted responses from their national team players. One Chinese netizen responded, "In the past, the Chinese team had physical advantage in Asia, but now there is no such thing," and added, "It is shocking that they said that even if they lost against Korea in the past, they could not compete at all."

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