In the upcoming East Asian Cup, the Chinese team will focus on the 1999 age group players and incorporate several "overage" players. Recently, the national team's U23 team returned to China after completing the World Cup and the Dubai Cup, and conducted intensive training in Haikou. During the period, Wu Xi, Zhang Linpeng, Zhang Yuning and other key players also joined the U23 team's training, a move aimed at jointly preparing for the Hangzhou Asian Games. However, due to the postponement of the Asian Games, the U23 team's preparation strategy has also been adjusted. The CFA, in preparation for the Hangzhou Asian Games and the 2023 Asian Cup, decided to send a national team consisting of elites from different age groups to the East Asian Cup. In view of the fact that the East Asian Cup is an international A-level tournament, which has an important impact on the world ranking of the national football team, the coaching team, based on the original lineup, plans to recruit more "over-age internationals", such as Guangzhou defender Jiang Guangtai and Yatai center forward Tan Long. It is worth noting that the CFA has always respected the interests of clubs when recruiting players. Currently, the CFA is actively studying and improving the preparation and game plan for the East Asian Cup, and maintaining communication with the clubs in charge. In this mixed lineup, in addition to the five "over-age internationals", there are many core players from various clubs, such as Dai Weijun from Shenzhen, Zhu Chenjie and Jiang Shenglong from Shenhua, and Wu Shaocong from Guangzhou, all of whom are key players of their respective clubs. Due to the epidemic and the epidemic prevention policy, once these players are selected for the national team to participate in the East Asian Cup, they may need to miss several rounds of the Chinese Super League. For this reason, the CFA and the CFL preparatory team are discussing with the clubs the scheduling arrangements for the second phase of the Chinese Super League. According to some sources, the start of the second phase of the league may be postponed from the original July 21 to around August 6 to ensure fair competition in the league after the return of international players. However, as of now, no definite news has been officially released. Clubs are waiting for the final decision and getting ready for the next phase of the tournament.
