In preparation for the upcoming 6th Asian Cup Qualifier u23 and the first phase of the Asian Qualifying Tournament for the Paris Olympics Men's Football Team later this year, the 2001 China Youth Team will regroup in Shanghai on February 7 for a 20-day training session, which will also be the team's first training session of the New Year. It is worth noting that for the first time, the national youth team is organizing training under the name of "China Olympic Men's Football Team (Olympic Team)", marking a crucial stage in the team's impact on the Paris Olympics. For this reason, head coach Cheng Yaodong recruited 29 players to participate in this training.
Since the formation of the team (as a training camp selection team) more than 5 years ago, the CY2001 National Youth Team has been primarily focused on influencing the Paris Olympics, and as such the team is an Olympic-age team in its own right. However, as the team has previously participated in the Asian Youth Championships and other competitions, the team has participated in the u19 national football team, u national football team 21 to participate in all stages of preparation and competition. According to the plan, the sixth session, the sixth session. u23 Asian Cup qualifiers and the first stage of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualifiers in Asia will be held in September this year, so this team this year must be the u to 23 national soccer team or the Chinese Olympic team to participate in the game is not difficult to understand. According to the official training notice issued by the CFA, the team is training under the name of "China Olympic Men's Football Team".
So far, the AFC has not confirmed whether the first phase of the Paris Olympic qualifiers will change the competition cycle. If there are no surprises, the AFC will clarify the exact date of the tournament at the end of the AFC General Assembly in Bahrain in early February this year. Of course, regardless of the date of the tournament, the Olympic team's preparation has been carried out step by step. According to the preparation plan, the team will have a 20-day training session in Shanghai from February 7 to 27 before traveling to Croatia in early March to play a number of matches against Croatian First Division teams. Additionally, utilizing the FIFA national team match day cycle, the Olympic team will play a series of warm-ups against age-appropriate European national teams. The team will not return to China until the end of the international match day cycle in June.
A total of 29 people participated in this Shanghai training, some old faces could not return to the Olympic team because of other echelons of the national brand. For example, 2004 age group player Wang Yiwei is currently following the 2003 age group u20 national football team in the United Arab Emirates to prepare for the u in the 20th Asian Cup, Liu Zhuyun, Tao Qianglong, Liang Shaowen, Huang Zihao became the Asian Games men's soccer team in 1999, Liang Shaowen also took part in the East Asian Cup held in Japan last summer. As the Chinese men's Asian Games team will participate in the preparations for the Asian Games in Hangzhou, they will not be able to return to the Olympic Games in the near future.
The coaching staff has reportedly recruited eight players for this training. Former Wuhan Changjiang player Chen Yuhao and Guangzhou's Wang Shilong prepared for and played in the Chinese Super League with their clubs last year, but were unable to travel with the national Olympic team to Croatia for training. In last season's Chinese Super League, Chen Yuhao made the most appearances and played the longest time in 2001. Wang Shilong's league appearance figures are also good. It makes sense for them to return to the National Olympic Team with the new Super League season not starting anytime soon.
Attacker Shi Yan, born in 2002, also returns to the team.In the 2022 season, he made 26 appearances for Tianjin Jinmen Tigers in the Chinese Super League, scoring two goals and assisting once. Abra Khan from Shanghai Port - Khaliq didn't play until the last three rounds of last season's Chinese Super League due to injury. However, he played the entirety of those three games and put in a strong performance. His return to the Olympic team is not surprising.
In order to improve the thickness of the team's defense in the midfield, the coaching staff of the national Olympic team once again recruited Yu Longyun, who played for Suzhou Dongwu last season.
Cangzhou Lions attacker Mafuyu maintained a fairly high rate of appearances and scored four goals in last season's Super League, so he's back on the Olympic team after three years.
Fernando, a senior center from Shanghai Shenhua, and Xie Wenneng of China's Qingdao Sea Cowboys, also returned to the Olympic team a year later. Fernando, who finished the u21 league at the end of last year, also performed well and caught the attention of Cheng Yaodong again. As a considerable part of the players of the Olympic team will take part in various warm-up matches and official club matches respectively before the preliminaries of the Paris Olympics, some injuries will inevitably occur, and the coaching staff of the Olympic team will dynamically adjust the candidates for different periods according to the actual situation.
