The national squad are training in Wuhan for their World cup qualifier on Thursday.
Feng Xiaoting has been named new captain by manager Gao Hongbo.
Feng's Guangzhou Evergrande teammate Zhang Linpeng has resumed training following an injury in the Chinese Super League.
But Zhang remains a question for the game against the Maldives.
China have two more chances to redeem themselves.
Their only hope of making Asia/Pacific's last 12 is if they won both games against the Maldives and Qatar.