On November 20, a new week began. This week, there are two highlights in the Green Stadium, which have attracted a lot of attention, i.e., the national soccer team hosts South Korea in the preliminaries, and Shandong Taishan and Shanghai Shenhua fight for the title in the AFC Cup. If nothing else, CCTV Sports (CCTV5) will broadcast the two matches live respectively.
November 21 (Tuesday):00, in the 2026 U.S.-Canada-Mexico World Cup Asian Qualifying Tournament Phase II Group C second round of the focus of the showdown, the Chinese team will be located in Shenzhen Longgang Universiade Center Stadium to face the South Korean team. Although CCTV5 has scheduled a corresponding time slot in its just-updated weekly program:Live Video-2023 World Table Tennis Championships Frankfurt, Live Video-2023/2024 Season Speed Skating World Cup Japan 25-minute edition and other events, from past experience, the program is usually adjusted the night before the match, and CCTV5 will live broadcast the match between China and South Korea .
In the first round of matches, South Korea beat Singapore 5-0 at home with five players such as Son Heung-miao and Lee Gang-in. China came back to beat Thailand 2-1 away from home on the back of goals from Wu Lei and Wang Shangyuan. This narrow encounter is about the competition for the top spot and the tendency to get out of the group. With a clear overall strength gap, China just need to continue the momentum from their away match against Thailand and play at their best to get a point. If they lose, they can live with it.
On November 19, Korea flew to Shenzhen. For Korea, their only goal is to get all 3 points. In the match, China will most likely focus on defense, which will test the Taejik Tigers' ability to break up tight defenses. It should be noted that Korea did not break the deadlock against Singapore in the first round. Then at the end of the first half, they capitalized on their opponents' wrong chances when Cho Kyu Sung broke through. Compared to Singapore, China has a stronger defense and will surely try to stop their opponents.
After the preliminaries, the 2023 CFA Cup comes to a grand finale on Saturday, November 25th at 16:00hrs. Shandong Taishan and Shanghai Shenhua will hold the final match at Suzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium. According to the weekly program, CCTV5 will broadcast the match live from 16:00.
Both teams are eager to win the title. Shandong Taishan, the defending champions, are looking forward to successfully defending their title and winning a fourth consecutive title. This can be seen in their attitude of developing to Suzhou six days ahead of schedule.
Shanghai Shenhua's only hope after missing out on qualifying for the AFC Champions League in the Chinese Super League is to pin it on the AFC Cup. Coach Wu Jingui and his disciples will surely go all out for the title.
It's worth noting that Shanghai Shenhua last won the AFC Cup in 2019, when they beat Shandong Taishan. However, then coach Cui Kangxi is now coaching Shandong Taishan. In this case, can they still revisit their old dream?
