At 11:30 p.m. on August 24, the first round of the 31st China-Japan-Korea Youth Games soccer tournament was in full swing, with China's U18 men's soccer team facing their fellow champions from the Wakayama region. The sudden bad weather forced the game to end at half time. Nonetheless, Huang Kaijun's goal gave the Chinese U18s a 1-1 draw with their opponents.
Entrusted by the State General Administration of Sports, the CFA organized the 31st China-Japan-Korea Youth Games in Wakayama, Japan, last month and formed a national U18 team for the 2005 age group. Given that the 2006 age group Chinese U17 team had just completed the Asian Cup in June, the CFA decided that the original U17 coaching team would lead the team, and that the players would consist of U17 internationals and U18 players of the right age. However, the early retirement of the original U17 coach, Yang, brought twists and turns to the formation of this new team.
On July 24, the U18 national team took Beijing Sport University as their base for a month-long preparation. During the period, they played four warm-up matches against Beijing Guoan U21 team, Chinese Championship newcomers Langfang Glory City team and Shandong Taishan U19 team, with a record of two wins, one draw and one loss.
On August 23, the U18 national football team departed Beijing time and flew to Osaka, Japan, before transferring to the city of Wakayama, a journey of about 80 kilometers. However, the entire team had less than 24 hours to adapt to the new environment. According to the schedule, the U18 national training team started the first round of the competition with the local champions of the same age. However, thunderstorms forced the game to be interrupted at halftime, with both teams staying even for the time being at 1-1. According to the program, Korea's yellow training team will also be involved in the next matchup.
