Liu Haofan killed, and the U22 national football team is not afraid of South Korea

Reporter Chen Yong reports In the second round of the Yancheng Four Nations Tournament yesterday afternoon, the U22 national football team defeated the South Korean U22 men's football team 1-0 with Liu Haofan's goal. It is worth mentioning that this is the third time in two years that national brands at all levels have defeated a South Korean team of the same age group.

In this game, the South Korean U22 men's football team lacked some main players, but the U22 national football team also lacked some excellent players, such as Bai Helamu and Hu Hetao, two school-age players who are currently in the national team, as well as Wang Yudong, Liu Chengyu, and Shi Songchen, who was absent due to injury. The U22 national football team has continued the start of the first game more at the lineup level, only adjusting the four positions of right midfielder, back midfielder, central defender and goalkeeper, the starting lineup is: goalkeeper Li Hao, defenders Wang Shiqin, Liu Haofan, Peng Xiao and Bao Shimeng, back Xu Bin and Chen Zeshi, and the front court is Bao Shengxin, Li Zhenquan, Liu Xiaolong and Xiang Yuwang. Among them, central defender Peng Xiao and midfielder Chen Zeshi are U20 players.

After the opening, the U22 national football team played very actively, occupying more of the dominant attack, and forming threatening attacks many times: only 2 minutes after the opening, Chen Zeshi's free kick hit the post, which was very regrettable. 1 minute later, Liu Xiaolong's ribs went down and passed to Bao Shengxin, who was very sorry that he couldn't break the goal in the face of the empty goal. In the 20th minute of the game, Seo Bin's long-range shot after breaking through at high speed was of extremely high quality, but the South Korean goalkeeper also made a beautiful save to defuse it.

In the 32nd minute of the game, the South Korean team changed two players in one go, which shows that the South Korean team's dissatisfaction with the game has reached the extreme, which in turn verifies the strength of the U22 national football team in the game. The U22 national football team fought hard in the front court to suppress the South Korean team well. At half-time, the U22 national team had 53 per cent possession, 5 shots on goal and 4 shots on target.

After the start of the second half, the U22 national team continued to launch a strong attack, and after the opening, Xiang Yu Wang shot twice in a row. As the game progressed, the South Korean team gradually adapted to the game, and the U22 national football team was forced to shrink its defense for a while.

In the 65th minute of the game, Antonio made the first adjustment to the lineup, Yi Mulan replaced Chen Zeshi in the opposite position, which was a U20 player for the U20 player, and Mutalifu replaced Liu Xiaolong in the opposite position. In the 70th minute of the game, the U22 national football team cooperated with the bottom cross on the left side, and the middle follow-up shot at the neutral post was missed, which was the second time that the national football team hit the goalpost.

Subsequently, the U22 national football team replaced three people in a row, Eiffelding replaced Xiang Yuwang, Yang Haoyu replaced Bao Shengxin, and Kuai Jiwen replaced Li Zhenquan. So far, the four attacking lines of the U22 national football team have all been adjusted. After Yi Mulan came on the field, she didn't have much of the ball for a long period of time, which shows that the team's style of play or habits are still not suitable for midfield passing.

In the 86th minute of the game, the exciting moment came, Eiffelding took a corner kick, and Peng Xiao at the back point jumped high to head the goal, but the ball hit the crossbar, but this time, the ball bounced back to the middle, and Liu Haofan seized the opportunity to volley and score. With Liu Haofan's stunning goal, the U22 national football team defeated the South Korean U22 men's football team 1-0.

In recent years, national teams at all levels have been performing well against South Korea:

In June 2023, the 01 Asian Games teams of China and South Korea played two games in Jinhua, and the two sides won and lost each other, the first game of the 01 Asian Games team lost 1-3, and the second game of the 01 Asian Games team defeated the South Korean team 1-0 with Sun Qinhan's goal.

In the 2023 U15 East Asian Cup, 08 National Youth drew 1-1 with South Korea in the group stage, and that U15 East Asian Cup, 08 National Youth finally won the championship. In the U17 Asian Cup qualifiers in October 2024, the 08 national team drew 2-2 with South Korea, and the 08 national team had 60% possession, a shot ratio of 12 to 6, and a shot on target ratio of 6 to 3. In June 2024, in the Weinan Four Nations Tournament, the 05 National Youth defeated the South Korean National Youth 2-0 with Liu Chengyu's two goals, and some players in this team participated in the Yancheng Four Nations Tournament.

03 The predecessor of the Asian Games team, 03 National Youth, once met South Korea in the 1/8 finals in the 2023 U20 Asian Cup, when the two sides drew 1-1 in regular time, and in extra time 03 National Youth conceded 2 goals in a row 1-3 and missed the World Youth Championship.

At present, the performance of national teams at all levels in the China-South Korea competition is undoubtedly very encouraging, which also shows the progress of Chinese football. However, whether to stay abroad in the future may have an important impact on the development of these young players, which is a reflection of the overall football level gap between China and South Korea, and is also one of the most urgent problems facing Chinese football. We also look forward to the fact that Chinese football can accumulate more confidence by beating the Korean national team in the same age group again and again.