Comments on U23 China vs U23 Korea, 8:00 p.m. April 19: 'Bullying' a familiar opponent

Comments before the match U23 China vs U23 Korea

Both South Korea and China disappointed in the opening match of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship. South Korea is considered superior to UAE, with many players having just won the 19th ASIAD.

However, when facing UAE, they experienced moments of deadlock. The connection between the positions on the attack line was not good, so Korea could not completely overwhelm the opponent. Luckily for them, in the last situation, Korea was still able to score to come home with the victory.

Meanwhile, China caused a humiliating disappointment with a defeat against Japan. In relation, the 0-1 loss to Japan was not surprising because Japanese football has been on the rise in recent years with many young players coming through.

But Chinese fans still have reason to be disappointed with their team when China played with more players for more than an hour but was completely helpless, unable to create many opportunities to keep hope alive.

In fact, their pressure was so great that the team had to send the goalkeeper to play as a striker in the final minutes of the match. All he got was two passes and both were wrong.

Form, history of confrontations between U23 China and U23 Korea

Chinese fans are very disappointed and are attacking their team. They demand a better performance in the second match but this is really difficult because in many aspects China is far behind Korea.

While China lost 3 of their last 5 matches, South Korea won 4 in the same period. The Korean team also often dominated their opponents. In the last 5 meetings, they won 4 and most recently won in Hangzhou, where China had home field advantage.

Information on the Chinese U23 team vs. the Korean U23 team

Korea may not be able to bring a coherent and seamless style of play to the tournament, but at least they have the support of the level of the stars. These are the players who can absolutely shine in important moments to bring victory to the home team.

China does not have this factor. The national team of the billion-people country consists of players who have had little opportunity to compete in the national championship. Their technique is described as "just at a basic level, not much special". Sohu newspaper wrote: "This generation of players does not know how to make a difference, only knows how to pass back when facing difficulties".

Today’s match will prove that what the Chinese media is describing is completely correct. China will show a weak side again in the match against South Korea.

Expected lineup of U23 China vs U23 Korea

China U23:Huang Zihao, Liang Shaowen, Zhu Yue, Yang Zihao, Jin Shunkai, Duan Dezhi, Jia Feifan, Tao Qianglong, Liu Junxian, Behram Abduwei, Aifeierding Aisikaer.

U23 Korea:Shin Song-hun, Cho Hyun-taek, Seo Myeong-kwan, Lee Tae-seok, Hwang Jae-won, Min Kyeong-hyeon, Jeon Byung-kwan, Kang Seong-jin, Lee Young-joon, An Jae-jun, Lee Kang-hee.

Score prediction: U23 China 0-2 U23 Korea