According to sports media sources, the Football Association is preparing to form a U21 national football team dominated by players in the 2003 age group, and may add a small number of players in the 04 or 05 age group. The U21 team aims to compete in the 2026 U23 Asian Cup and the Nagoya Asian Games. As the saying goes, "stupid birds fly first", so the Football Association carried out preparations and coach selection in advance. It is understood that a consensus has been reached within the Football Association that the coach of the U21 national football team will most likely hire a foreign coach to lead the team.
It is understood that there may be many people within the Football Association who propose to let former national youth team coach Antonio serve as the coach of the U21 national football team to lead the team to the 2026 U23 Asian Cup and the Nagoya Asian Games. Last year, Antonio led the 2003 Under-19 national youth team to the Asian Youth Championships. In the first game, the Chinese national youth lost 0-1 to the Japanese national youth. In the second game, the Chinese national youth defeated the Saudi national youth 2-0, and this game showed Antonio's coaching ability. In the final game, the Chinese national youth drew 1-1 with the Kyrgyzstan national youth.
The Chinese national youth, which was not favored before the game, beat the Saudi national youth and joined hands with the Japanese national youth to advance to the top 8 of the Asian Youth Championship. In the round of 8, the Chinese national youth drew 1-1 with the South Korean national youth in 90 minutes, and the Chinese national youth scored 1 goal first. In the final overtime, the Chinese national youth failed to hold and was eliminated by the South Korean national youth with two goals in a row. Although the national youth team was only one step away from qualifying for the World Youth Championships, Antonio and the national youth team won unanimous praise from fans and public opinion media.
After the Asian Youth Championship, Antonio's coaching contract with the national youth team expired. At that time, fans and sports media strongly recommended that the Football Association replace Antonio with Yaodong, let Antonio coach the U23 national Olympic team, and let him lead the team to this year's Qatar U23 Asian Cup. At that time, Antonio also said that he wanted to stay in China and continue to coach. It's a pity that Chen Shuyuan, then chairman of the Football Association, and Du Zhaocai, then secretary of the Football Association, "pretended to be deaf and dumb" and didn't care.
Chen Shuyuan, the former chairman of the Football Association, and Du Zhaocai, the former secretary of the Football Association
As a result, Antonio left Bolivia to coach a Bolivian second division team. Some people believe that from Antonio, they can see the "shadow" of the coach of the 05 national youth coach Crawford. In the end, it was Cheng Yaodong who led the team to play this year's U23 Asian Cup, although the U23 national Olympic team was eliminated and missed the Paris Olympics. However, there are still 10 players in the U23 Olympic team who can participate in the 2026 U23 Asian Cup and the Nagoya Asian Games.
The 10 players who can participate in the 2026 U23 Asian Cup and the Nagoya Asian Games are: Li Hao, Yu Jinyong, Liu Haofan, Eiffelding, Wang Yudong, Bai Helam, Du Yuehui, Hu Hetao, Xu Bin, and Mu Ta Lifu, who was not selected due to injury. Among them, there are 8 players mentioned above, who are the "disciples" of Antonio who led the team to participate in the Asian Youth Championship last year.
Therefore, the "foundation" of this U21 national football team is not bad, if it is paired with several overseas players, such as: He Xiaoke of Spain, Jia Boyan of the Swiss Super Grass Fierce Team, Yang Xi of the Espanyol Team, Liu Shao Ziyang of the Austrian League, and Li Sirong of the Croatian League. If the coach of this team is Antonio, then the U21 national football team will participate in the 2026 U23 Asian Cup and the Nagoya Asian Games after two years of adjustment and training, which is definitely worth the expectation of fans across the country.
Therefore, if Antonio takes over the Under-21 national football team, he already knows this group of players and domestic players in the 03/04 age group very well, he does not have a familiar process, and he can get into work immediately. If the Football Association can choose Antonio to coach the U21 national football team, it can be regarded as "setting the tide of the previous Football Association"!
If Antonio coaches the new U21 national football team and leads the team to the 2026 U23 Asian Cup and the Nagoya Asian Games, do you think it is okay?
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