Good defense proves best offense

Team China's history-making run at the biennial U23 Asian Cup has provided a much-needed shot in the arm for the country's soccer rejuvenation, drawing attention to the fundamental importance of youth training and talent development.

An admirable defensive display took China's youth squad a giant step further on not just its own U23 Asian Cup journey, but also the tough rebuild of Chinese soccer overall, with its quarterfinal win over Uzbekistan on Saturday making the country proud.

As the underdog facing a much higher-ranked opponent, Team China, coached by Antonio Puche, defied the odds by beating Uzbekistan 4-2 in a penalty shootout in its first-ever quarterfinals at the U23 continental showpiece in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to reach the final four for the first time at the tournament.

China's impressive defensive effort helped it prevail again as the squad executed coach Puche's pragmatic tactics well to hold the aggressive Uzbek side scoreless over 120 minutes, before advancing with a 4-2 penalty shootout win at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium.

Chinese goalkeeper Li Hao again proved to be the hero, having already kept clean sheets in the group stage, as he fended off at least seven close-range shots on goal from Uzbek attackers during regulation time before saving Dilshod Abdullaev's spotkick in the shootout.

"It feels awesome to win, especially against a strong opponent like Uzbekistan, and we want to make it all the way to the end," said Li, who's made 24 saves across four matches at the tournament, the most by any goalkeeper.

Chinese fans flooded social media to hail the performance of the 21-year-old Li, who previously had a stint with the reserve team of Spanish club Atletico Madrid before making regular appearances in the Chinese Super League for Qingdao West Coast last season.

The hashtag "Team China reaches its first U23 Asian Cup semifinals "had garnered over 23 million views as of Saturday night, topping the trending topic list on Weibo three hours after the match.

Team China faces Vietnam on Tuesday in the semifinals of a competition in which it hadn't advanced from the group stage from 2014-24.

"The whole team is thrilled. We can only make the most of this short time to celebrate the victory," said Spanish coach Puche, who took over the squad in 2023 at the U21 level.

"It is very emotional. In the life of players and coaches, there are only a few moments like these. We're very happy with all the players because this is history for us," he shared his emotions after a historic night.

"I have known some of the players for many years now and I know how hard they have worked with training camps and tournaments, so I'm very happy for them."

Ranked 50th in the world and fifth in Asia, Uzbekistan, which had dominated Group C with two wins and one draw, entered the match as the clear favorite to advance, yet soon realized its productive attacking would not work against a disciplined Chinese squad, which surprisingly beat powerhouse Australia 1-0 in its only win in Group D relying on the same defense-first tactics.

The first five kicks in the shootout were converted by the two sides, respectively, with Team China leading 3-2 before Behruzjon Karimov and Yang Haoyu each missed their teams' next shots.

Li then rose to the occasion, blocking Abdullaev's attempt to set up teammate Wang Bohao to score the winning penalty to take Team China through.

Puche attributed the win to Team China's defensive discipline, a strength of the squad which managed only six shots, all off target, facing Uzbekistan.

"They (Uzbekistan) have good players with the ball, they are technically very sound," said Puche, a former pro with La Liga 2 clubs who was signed by the Chinese Football Association in 2018 as a youth coach.

"For us, it was not easy to play today in attack and defense because of the heat. It was hard to keep the level that we had shown before. It was physically impossible but the job the players did was fantastic."

The U23 squad's efforts, despite having scored only one goal during regulation time in four matches, has served up some cheer for China's long-suffering soccer fans who have become accustomed to disappointment on the international stage.

The country's senior national team, ranked 93rd in the world, missed out on FIFA World Cup qualification for a humiliating sixth consecutive time in June after being eliminated in the third-stage Asian qualifiers for the 2026 edition to be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

As excitement builds globally for this summer's soccer showpiece, Team China, shamefully, has had to move on and prepare for a shot at the 2030 edition, with pundits and fans alike urging the CFA and domestic league clubs to focus more on talent development at the youth level.

A quick fix, with whatever temporary remedies, has proved impossible for the disappointing national program, which has squandered huge sums of money and resources on its previous failed World Cup-qualifying attempts, hiring expensive, big-name foreign coaches and introducing naturalized Brazilian-born players.

"I think the U23 squad's breakout run at the Asian Cup has provided a sobering wake-up call that only by investing in youth, with consistent efforts and a long-term plan, can the game's rebuild succeed," said Yang Chen, a former Team China striker who represented the country at its sole World Cup finals in 2002.