▲ In March 2025, the U-22 national soccer team, led by former coach Lee Chang-hyeon as an acting team, lost 0-1 to China in the second round of the China Football Association (CFA) invitational four-nation friendly tournament held at the Yancheng Olympic Sports Center in Jiangsu Province, China. ⓒ Sohu.com
▲ Coach Antonio Puce, who coached this age group in China for 7 years, announced the U-22 national team roster. China, which has great interest in its age-specific national team, is already showing expectations that it is “full of abundant talent.” China was excited, saying, “If you look at the U-22 national team’s roster, you can see six promising players. If their talent explodes, Chinese soccer can lay the foundation for a return to the Asian second division level in the future.” ⓒ Sohu.com
[스포티비뉴스=조용운 기자] The Chinese U-23 national team, which defeated Korean soccer twice and rose to just below the top of Asia, has now turned its attention to the Asian Games.
Coach Antonio Puce’s regime, which has become the center of attention by creating an unprecedented sensation in Chinese soccer history, is not only a short-term success, but continues until the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
According to Chinese media ‘Sohu’, the Chinese Football Association decided to fully launch the Asian Games project while retaining the runners-up members and coaches of the recently concluded 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup. This is a procedure to officially extend the foreign head coach system in accordance with the principles of performance-based evaluation.
Spanish coach Puche has been building a long-term project by taking charge of the Chinese age-group national team since 2018. At the 2023 U-20 Asian Cup, they proved their potential by advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time in nine years, and subsequently succeeded in replacing generations and stabilizing power.
The results were decisively revealed in the Korean War. After boosting their organizational strength with resources in their early 20s who were consistently playing in the Chinese Super League, they achieved back-to-back victories over Korea. Korea dismissed its 0-1 loss in a friendly tournament last March as a coincidence. At that time, there was no formal command tower, so the perception was that three former leaders took temporary command and lost.
However, the trend became clear when they were defeated again 0-2 in the Panda Cup in November of the same year. At this time, coach Lee Min-seong was appointed with the goal of winning the Asian Games gold medal, but the team was unable to overcome China. That process of failure ultimately led to their performance in the Asian Cup. While Korea remained at a standstill, China made it all the way to the finals and achieved an unprecedented achievement of finishing as runners-up.
▲ Lee Min-seong needs to make up for his poor training in Saudi Arabia last month through this Panda Cup. At that time, Korea exposed a fatal mistake by losing 0-4 and 0-2 in succession in the evaluation match against Saudi Arabia. While they are piling up defeats in the Asian region, they are also crushing their pride by being completely defeated in China. ⓒ Chinese Football Association
China’s policy is not to end this achievement in a flash. Local media, including the Beijing Youth Daily, reported that the strategy of maintaining strength until the Asian Games, with all Asian Cup runners-up as the central axis, has been confirmed.
During the international match period in March, we will play a series of evaluation matches against strong teams in Xi’an to improve our sense of real-life combat. Competitive teams such as Uzbekistan, Thailand, and Vietnam have already expressed their intention to participate. The goal is clear. The goal is to link the Asian Cup sensation to an Asian Games medal.
Sohu said, “The core task of coach Puche’s contract is also to achieve the Asian Games,” and added, “China will take advantage of the gap in which rival countries, such as Japan, are forming teams mainly with young players, and will maximize the possibility of medals by inserting the elite members who made it to the Asian Cup as runners-up.”
▲ The Chinese U-23 national team, led by coach Fu Che, lost 0-4 to Japan in the final of the U-23 Asian Cup held at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Although Japan lost its second consecutive tournament, it was a meaningful achievement for Chinese soccer. ⓒAFC U-23 SNS
Copyright © SPOTV News. Reproduction and redistribution prohibited.
date: 2026-02-08 15:26:00