At the stroke of midnight on February 15, 2023, Beijing time, China's national U20 soccer team played a tense warm-up match against Slovenia's U20 Youth Army in Croatia. The match ended in a 0-0 draw, and although the national soccer team fought until the last minute, the details of the match remained strictly confidential.
Slovenia's U20 failed to take their place in the U20 Asia Cup in Europe, but their strength should not be underestimated. In contrast, even our adult national team may not be able to gain the upper hand in such a confrontation. In order to ensure the absolute confidentiality of the tactics, the tournament was not open for live broadcast, journalists were also prohibited from conducting on-site interviews, and the starting lineup has become a mystery. Since the U20 national soccer team arrived in Croatia, this kind of mysterious warm-up match has been the norm. However, voices on social media seemed to hint at the effort behind the seeming draw. Unlike the Syria U20 confrontation, teams such as Oman U20 tend to change their lineups at halftime. In this match, commanded by Jangovic, the U20 internationals were more interested in exploring and getting to know each other. Despite only winning one of their first six matches, the U20 national youth team is expected to lock down a starting spot after notable performances from Xinjiang stars Aifir Jiang, Hu and Tao, Yang Minjie and Huo Shenping. As the challenge against Japan U20 approaches at 18:00 on March 3, the match seems to hinge on the ability to concede fewer goals. Hitoshi Takahashi, a mixed-race player, plays for Barcelona U19, while Taichi Fukui, Jodai Nakai, and Shio Fukuda play for Bayern, Real Madrid, and Menjiao's second team, respectively. Tsunei Maeda, who currently plays for Blackburn U18, was not selected for the U20 roster. With this kind of strength in the lineup, the Japanese team can be said to have a lot of talent. In addition to the battle of Japan on March 3, China U20 will also face Kyrgyzstan and Saudi Arabia on March 9th. Despite the strength of the opponents, the national youth team may only Kyrgyzstan is expected to fight, while facing Japan and Saudi Arabia, the chances of winning are slim. In recent years, Kyrgyzstan has emerged in the Asian youth soccer scene, China U20 if not careful, may fall to the last place in the group. China U20's initial goal is to get out of the group and advance to the World Youth Championship. However, in the current turbulent environment of Chinese soccer, where even the president of the Football Association is under investigation, the future of soccer seems to be waiting for a fresh start. Against this backdrop, both the national and youth teams are facing an unprecedentedly awkward situation.
