The morning of November 25th brought to a close the Men's Soccer Semi-Finals of the First National Youth Three Major Games. Jilin U18's lost 2-5 to Shanghai U18's, who were regarded as the favorites to win the championship. Meanwhile, Sichuan U18s also failed to resist Shandong U18s' onslaught with a score of 0-3. In the upcoming matches, Jilin U18s will face Sichuan U18s for the third place, while Shanghai will face Shandong for the championship.
As the favorites to win the tournament, Shanghai U18s advanced to the quarterfinals with three wins in the group stage, where they easily beat Hebei U18s 6-1. Facing a strong opponent, Jilin U18s still fielded a mixed lineup consisting of players from the 2006, 2007 and 2008 age groups. However, due to the difference in strength and experience, Jilin quickly fell into passivity in the first half - Shanghai scored consecutively in the 4th, 8th and 18th minutes, a situation that became crucial in deciding the direction of the game.
In the second half of the match, Jilin U18s made some changes and started to launch a wave of counterattacks. In the 61st and 65th minutes, Wang Zihao and Du Kailuo scored goals to bring the score to 2-3, but Shanghai U18s scored again in the 68th and 72nd minutes to make the score 2-5, and although Jilin U18s tied the score in the second half, they failed to reverse the situation, which reflected the spirit of Changchun Yatai's youth army.
Jilin U18s will start the third place battle with Sichuan U18s at 14:00 on November 27th.
