Aiming for ‘extraordinary things’: Chinese team takes on Japan in U23 Asian Cup final tonight

Graphic：Global Times

The Chinese national under-23 football team will take on Japan in the U23 Asian Cup final at 11:00 pm Beijing time on Saturday, chasing Chinese men’s football’s first continental title in 22 years. 

Chinese U23 team head coach Antonio Puche said at a pre-match press conference on Friday that the team will try to “make extraordinary things happen” in the final.

Anticipation in China is running high even though the Chinese team was seeded at the lowest level in the 16-team competition before it reached the final. The Japanese team has been considered the strongest team in the tournament, scoring 12 goals but only conceding one in regular time of play.

The Chinese U23 team reached the final without conceding a single goal beyond penalty shootout. 

The U23 final marks the first time a Chinese men’s football team has faced Japan in a continental final in 22 years, since the senior Chinese national team’s 3-1 home defeat to Japan in the 2004 Asian Cup final in Beijing.

Global Times