China has several incredible players who we’re expecting to see over the course of this two-game series, including Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Wang Shuang, Levante forward Tang Jiali, Brighton defender Li Mengwen, Celtic’s Shen Mengyu, and the A-League Women’s very own Wuriguluma, who starred for the Central Coast Mariners.
But their most important influence for this two-game series may be off the field: a few months ago, the Chinese women’s national team hired former Matildas boss Ante Milicic as their new head coach, who led Australia through the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.
He’s brought along with him assistant coach Ivan Jolic, goalkeeper coach Joey Didulica, and fitness coach Daniel Deligan, linking up with former Matildas assistant Gary Van Egmond (yep, dad of Emily), who was appointed as head of China’s youth national team late last year.
No doubt Milicic will be delving back into his memories of many of the same players he’ll be coming up against tonight and in the second game in Sydney on Monday: knowing the strengths, weaknesses, and habits of the long-term Matildas he worked with four years ago.
But this will be the start of a much longer journey of rebuilding the Chinese side for Milicic.
While Australia are fine-tuning themselves for the Olympics, the Chinese missed out on qualifying altogether after getting knocked out during the AFC group stage.
With no other major tournaments on the immediate horizon, this means China has at least two years to prepare for the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup in Australia and the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.
So we could see a lot of rotation and use of youngsters tonight as they all embark on this next chapter for the China national team.