He said afterwards his players had felt “stress”, raising questions over the mental condition of a squad who sat through a documentary about disgraced former head coach Li Tie last week, and who play under huge expectation from supporters at home.
“I am fighting as a coach, this is a challenge for me,” Jankovic said. “It is not a new topic, handling these difficult moments.
“We had the biggest number of [passing] errors of the whole tournament in the first half against Tajikistan. I am not proud of that statistic, and am trying to solve it.
“I can run away from the problem, or go through it. I will never run away.”
From 16 matches since Jankovic’s appointment, initially as caretaker, in July 2022, China have five wins and seven defeats. They have scored only 15 goals, resulting in criticism of Jankovic’s possession-first style.
A four-game winless run featuring only one goal – in a humbling 2-1 friendly defeat by Hong Kong – is grist to the mill for those who accuse the Serb’s team of passing for passing’s sake, while missing the punch to hurt opponents.
“I never avoid problems, I fight through problems,” Jankovic said. “I keep insisting on ball possession, playing with quality, from high-level players. I give the players my trust and confidence, and take full responsibility for every [passing] error they make.
“I will keep pushing this style … and hope we will be more precise from the first minute.”
China, 79th in the global rankings, will be on shaky ground if they fail to overcome the Lebanese, ranked 107th, at Al Thumama Stadium. But Jankovic said it would be unwise to hype the importance, despite the daunting prospect of facing hosts Qatar in their final Group A fixture.
“If we win, we are not qualified; if we lose, we are not eliminated,” he said. “We will attack the game to win, without thinking too much about the rest.
“I am happy to see the mentality of the group. Every player is focused on their recovery and motivated to play against Lebanon. We will push 100 per cent for a better result.”
Striker Wu Lei, a veteran of China’s quarter-final campaigns in 2015 and 2019, was sitting next to his coach in Doha.
“We think we need to win the second game,” the 32-year-old said. “The Chinese players know the importance of the match … we have spoken about scoring goals. It is not only for the attacking players, it is for the whole team.”
Lebanon’s coach Miodrag Radulovic said he would alter his personnel after their 3-0 loss to Qatar.
“Our competition starts on Wednesday,” he said. “China are well organised, with experienced players, who play in a strong league. I do not know if they feel pressure, but for us this game is very important. We will make some changes, and I am sure we will achieve a better result.”
