*This content was translated by AI.
China's under-23 (U-23) soccer team's 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup momentum is unusual. The team, which has never passed the group stage, has advanced to the finals beyond its first-ever tournament in this tournament. Coach Antonio Pucce (54, Spain), who has been at the helm since 2024, has already become a "hero of the continent."
China advanced to the final after defeating Vietnam, led by head coach Kim Sang-sik, 3-0 in the semifinals of the tournament at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the 21st (Korea time). Peng Xiao (Shandong Taishan) scored the first goal in the second half and Xiang Yu Wang (Chongqing Tonglianglong) scored an additional goal five minutes later, and after gaining a numerical advantage through the opponent's exit, Wang Yu-dong (Zhejiang FC) scored a net goal at the end of extra time. The ball possession rate was tight at 50.4% and 49.6%, but they won the game after leading 16-7 in the number of shots.
China, which scored only one goal in four games in the process of reaching the semifinals, changed its mood by scoring its first multiple points in the game where it was at stake in advancing to the finals. Given that Vietnam, led by head coach Kim Sang-sik, reached the semifinals for the first time in eight years and showed a formidable momentum, the performance of the Chinese national team, which completely broke the momentum, is even more remarkable.
With this advance to the finals, the Chinese national team has rewritten its own soccer history. Prior to this tournament, China was a "weak player" who had never passed the group stage. The group stage performance of the five previous tournaments was only 2 wins and 13 losses. However, in this tournament, he reached the tournament for the first time in history, and went beyond the first semifinal in history to write the history of the first final.
In the process, China set a new record of not allowing a single goal in five games. In the group stage, they played scoreless games against Iraq, Australia and Thailand, and in the tournament, they blocked Uzbekistan and Vietnam's attacks without a score. Uzbekistan is the opponent that South Korea lost 0-2 in the group stage earlier. The defense led China to the final, centered on goalkeeper Li Hao (Qingdao West Coast), who is already mentioned as a starting member of the A national team.
Coach Puche, who has rewritten Chinese soccer history, has already become a hero. Immediately after beating Vietnam to advance to the final, he even received a rinse from the players of China's U-23 national team. Since Pucce's appointment, China's U-23 national team has become a completely different team to win both recent face-offs with South Korea. Lee Min-sung-ho, South Korea also suffered a 0-2 complete defeat to China led by Coach Puche at the Panda Cup in China in November last year.
China will try to win its first ever championship against Japan at midnight on the 25th. On the other hand, South Korea, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, lost 0-1 in the semifinals against the Japanese national team, two years younger, and was pushed to the third place match against Vietnam Kim Sang-sik at 0:00 a.m. on the 24th.
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*This content was translated by AI.
