The best record in the past decade has brought a new ray of hope to the current sluggish Chinese football... Although this is a glimmer in the dark.
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In the final round of the group stage of the Asian Youth Championship (U20 Asian Cup), China U20 played Kyrgyzstan U20. Since the national youth team had accumulated 3 points from 1 win, 1 loss, this victory will ensure that they will advance to the knockout round.
Coach Antonio responded to the change, fielding the starting 11 exactly the same as the previous two games. Li Hao, a goalkeeper who showed great courage, led the defensive line, and Liu Haofan and other four defenders lined up; Three Xinjiang players, Baihlamu, Alfedin and Nuer, form the attacking trident; The whole team adhered to the pragmatic tactics of steady counterattack.
In the 58th minute, China scored first, and captain Alfedin forced the opposing defender to make a mistake in a quick counter-attack and scored a "volley" own goal. The Chinese team was then besieged, trailing their opponents in possession, shots and corners. In the 87th minute, Kyrgyzstan equalized the score, and the situation was very critical for a while. Fortunately, the boys united in their determination to withstand the onslaught of their opponents and kept the draw to the end.
Due to Japan's 2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia in the same group, the Chinese team finished second in Group D and successfully advanced to the knockout round. The quarterfinals on March 12 will face South Korea U20.
The record of the Asian Youth Championship can be said to be a barometer of football youth training. The last time China reached the quarterfinals was in 2014, the last time it won the title was back in 1985 (Gao Hongbo's group of players), and in 1982, 1996 and 2004 it was the runner-up three times. Ten years is a watershed. In the past two decades, our youth training has encountered big problems. As Wu Lei's international players enter the twilight of their careers, Chinese football is even more faced with the dilemma of not being connected. And this group of players is the hope of Chinese football for the next decade. In the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the best of them will also play for their country; In the 2030 World Qualifiers, they must be the backbone of the national football team.
How far this Asian Youth Championship can go, to some extent, also predicts how far the national football team can go in the next two World Preliminary Tournaments.
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Objectively speaking, in the three matches of the group stage of the Asian Youth Championship, the young players have let everyone see gratifying progress.
In the opening game against Japan Juniors (2016 champion), China scored first in the opening six minutes, and was eventually reversed 1:2 under the full court siege of their opponents. The two goals of the Japanese team were suspected of offside and handball fouls respectively (VAR was not introduced in this tournament).
In the second game of defending champions Saudi Arabia, two Xinjiang players from China performed well, with captain Eiffeldin assisting Mutalif's opening goal, and he then instigated a second goal that was sealed 2-0 by Xu Bin. The tournament was the first time in nine years that three Chinese football reserves (U23, U20 and U17) defeated an Asian powerhouse – and the last victory came back in 2014 at the Asian Youth Championship in Myanmar, where Wei Shihao scored 2-1 against Japan.
In fact, the outside world was not optimistic about this national youth team before the game. The team's previous training and overseas training, except for a few reporters such as Ma Dexing, there was very little news. Much of the media and fans lack even the team's head coach, Antonio Puche. Although the Spanish coach has been coaching in China for more than four years, his presence is very low. First of all, because of his own thin independent coaching resume, he only briefly served as the head coach of two teams, Kuwaiti League Qadisya and Cyprus Arnosis, playing no more than 20 games. Secondly, his aura is also slightly insufficient, and before the game, he publicly said that the team has played very few games in recent years, and it is good to be able to enter the main game of the Asian Youth Championship.
Team leader Shao Jiayi is a famous name that fans are very familiar with. He said in an interview: "In terms of paper strength, our team is not in the same grade as others, and it can even be said that it is more than one notch apart, so we must be prepared to face all kinds of difficulties." On the other hand, he also stressed that the ball can be lost, but the style must not be lost - it is necessary to show the fighting spirit of "death or death on the battlefield".
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This national youth team has indeed shown fighting spirit and gratifying progress. Some people praised Antonio, believing that this is the new atmosphere brought to Chinese football by foreign coaches; Some people admire Shao Jiayi, believing that the old national football team of the golden generation has passed on the spirit to the young people. In fact, there is also a behind-the-scenes hero who has contributed as many as 7 Xinjiang players to the national youth team - the starting lineup includes Baihlamu, Alfedin and Nur, and Mutalif, Maiwulang, Adili and Xuehereti on the bench.
The hero behind the scenes is Sun Jihai, one of the key contributors to the rise of Xinjiang football in recent years. Sun Jihai did not leave football after retiring at the end of 2016, he first founded a sports company, then served as the leader of the national U20 age group elite training camp, and in 2019 was appointed vice chairman of the Xinjiang Football Association and concurrently the director of Xinjiang Youth Training. In recent years, Sun Jihai has focused on the development of Xinjiang youth training - "It was the arrival of Sun Jihai that made him see that there are so many children who purely love football in this land, and also let him see how much potential Xinjiang players have." ”
There has been a misunderstanding for a long time - it is generally believed that Xinjiang football has a good foundation, and the players develop early and have good physical conditions. But in fact, it was not until 2018 that the first Uyghur player made his debut for the national football team - Matijiang, born in 1991, was selected for the national football training for the first time in 2010, but only made his first appearance for the national team eight years later.
Xinjiang has a good football atmosphere, and there are many talented children, but there is a lack of capital investment and the guidance of professional coaches, so few players have been able to embark on the road of professional football. The foundation of the rise of Xinjiang football is the Soong Ching Ling Football School jointly established by the Chinese Football Association, the Soong Ching Ling Foundation and the Xinjiang Sports Bureau in 2002, and the training base of Xinjiang football was completed in 2011. Sun Jihai's arrival brought funds and contacts to Xinjiang. On the one hand, he focuses on 8-10 year old seedlings, and on the other hand, he broadens his career (including football association echelons, domestic club echelons, football schools and even overseas clubs). At the same time, the Xinjiang Football Association has also promoted reform, introduced youth training teams from Germany and France, and adopted SAP's Sports One football solution to ensure the operation of youth training teams in Xinjiang from the aspects of talent and scientific research.
In 2021, the Xinjiang U20 men's football team made history by reaching the finals for the first time at the National Games (and eventually finishing second). Now another batch of players sent by Xinjiang for the national youth have performed well in the Asian Youth Championship, giving fans across the country a new hope - facts have once again proved that youth training is the foundation of football. There must always be someone who does a good job in youth training down-to-earth, and the future of Chinese football will be better.
(The original article was published in "Crystal News", the author is myself, the whole network: kicked the editor, Xiaozheng said the ball.) Original works, please indicate the source for reprinting. ）