As the Asian Games draws nearer, our men's soccer team is preparing for the decisive stage, and the atmosphere is tense and enthusiastic. The Asian Games Men's Soccer Tournament has attracted a lot of attention, not only because we are the host and are expected to play the home field advantage, but also because the participating players have the key mission of competing for the World Cup seat. Their performance will directly affect the strength of our national team in the next five years. Looking back at last year's East Asian Cup, some of the young players have already shown their potential. With one year of preparation coming to an end, the outside world has high hopes for the players and expects them to deliver a satisfactory answer sheet.
Improving the overall strength is not only the responsibility of the U24 national soccer team, but also the mission of the entire national brand system. Therefore, besides the U24, the U18 national soccer team is also attracting much attention. 43-year-old Shao Jiayi is the head of the coaching team, and the high configuration of the lineup makes the outside world full of expectations for this team. This team brings together the young talents of China in 2005 and is tasked with influencing the quota for the 2028 Olympics. According to the plan, the U18 national football team has been assembled in late July, and is now fully engaged in training and preparation.
In order to get to know the players better, Shao's coaching staff carefully arranged a warm-up match. In view of the domestic three-tier professional league being in full swing, the U18 national soccer team chose the Chinese Champions League as their warm-up opponent. Facing the Pride of Langfang, Hebei, a newly-promoted champion but not a strong team, the two teams completed two matches in two days. In the first round of meetings, the Chinese team defeated their opponents with two goals. Despite the first win in a warm-up match, the victory was expected considering the opponent was an amateur team. What is more important is to improve the strength of the team through training. In preparation for the Youth Games, the first round of matches was played on an artificial field, while the second round returned to a natural grass field. In these two rounds, Langfang City of Glory's main players played. However, surprisingly, Langfang City of Glory defeated the U18 national soccer team 1-0 in a fierce battle, with Tan Fucheng scoring the only goal in the 14th minute. In the end, the Chinese team suffered their first defeat in a warm-up match with an unexpected 0-1 loss. Despite the fact that the opponent was only an amateur team, the result was still a surprise to the outside world. Due to the team's short time, Shao's coaching staff is still in the adaptation stage. With the deepening of training, the strength of the team will be gradually improved.
