In the early morning of October 28, 2024, a piece of news about Chinese soccer was like a fresh breeze that caused considerable ripples in the soccer world. Beijing Youth Daily disclosed that an FA executive, after witnessing the fierce battle between China's U16 national youth team and South Korea, excitedly said, "This group of teenagers is the future light of Chinese soccer!"
Back on the night of October 27th, a U17 Asian Cup Qualifier Group C match was played as expected under the starry sky of Dalian. The Chinese U16 boys' soccer team shook hands with the South Korean U16s with a score of 2-2, and both teams remained undefeated in the fierce competition with a record of 3 wins and 1 draw. Although the Chinese U16s finished second in Group C on goal difference, given that five of the 10 groups had second-place finishes that had suffered defeats, the Chinese U16s were among the five best-performing second-place teams in the group, locking up a ticket to next year's final stage.
In this duel, China U16 team showed impressive strength. The statistics show that they had 60% of the ball in their possession and 12 shots on goal, three times more than the South Korean team. Such a situation is rare in the history of China and South Korea's men's soccer meetings. Japanese coach Kenichi Uemura's technical innovations seem to be showing their first signs of revitalizing this young Chinese team. These positive changes not only transcend the result of the outing, but are a great boost to the morale of Chinese soccer. After the match, the relevant person from the FA said with no small amount of emotion, "The performance of the U16 national soccer team gives us confidence in the future of Chinese soccer."
