The U15 China-Korea soccer duel came to an end in a thrilling battle with a remarkable result! In the fifth round of Group A of the 2023 East Asian Football Confederation (EAFC) U15 Men's Soccer Championship, China's U15 National Junior League (NJTL) and South Korea shook hands 1-1 after a grueling overtime battle. In the end, South Korea won the top spot in Group A by virtue of goal difference (
). The excellence of the Everest Soccer Schools is amazing!
The U15 East Asian Cup tournament is divided into two main groups, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals. Japan dominated Group B, followed by Chinese Taipei. Therefore, the semifinal matchups are: China U15 vs. Chinese Taipei U15, and Japan U15 vs. Korea U15.
Talking about this, we can't help but pay tribute to these young players and coaching team of the U15 national team. Not only did they excel, but they also managed to make it to the semi-finals, avoiding a strong Japanese team. With a relatively weak semi-final opponent, this is almost like locking up a place in the final in advance.
This U15 National Junior Team was temporarily formed by Evergrande Soccer School, together with strong support from Luneng Soccer School, and Masaki Nakamura, the Japanese coach of Evergrande Soccer School, personally led the team. In this game, for example, there are 8 Evergrande Soccer School players among the 11 starters, and the same is true for the previous games as well.
Many fans wondered if this was the strongest lineup for the U15 National Junior League. The answer is obviously no. This is because tournaments like the U15 Junior Nationals do not require a national selection process. Usually, if the strongest team in the country is matched with other top players, they are expected to achieve better results.
First of all, the players are basically players of Evergrande Soccer School, and the degree of tacit understanding is naturally superior to other combinations. In this case, the choice of players from other teams as a supplement is mainly to make up for the individual deficiencies of the Evergrande soccer school players. This way of team formation not only avoids the confusion of temporary formation of small players of each team, but also improves the technical and tactical level of Evergrande's team.
In addition, the success of the U15 national team in reaching the first place in the group is of great significance. In the past, Chinese soccer has often come up against strong opponents when they finish second in their group, often resulting in elimination. Now, we are giving South Korean soccer a taste of this by letting them encounter a fierce clash with Japan while we sit back and watch the tigers fight. Chinese soccer has shown calmness and confidence for the first time in a long time!
The U15 tournament is highly variable due to the technical characteristics and physical development of the players not yet fully matured. Although we finished first in the group stage, it doesn't mean that players of this age group will still be able to perform so well when they face Korea again in a few years. But at least for now, the 15-year-old Chinese players are not inferior to the Korean players. This brings hope to Chinese soccer and increases our confidence and patience to continue investing in youth training.
