Reporter Lu Mi reports In stoppage time, many of the national youth players burst into tears when the final whistle blew. There is no doubt that this is the closest the national youth has come to the World Youth Championships in recent years. Coach Djurdjevic wanted to make adjustments in extra time, but suffered a stunner and the national youth campaign ended. From the "Panda Cup" to the U20 Asian Cup, this national youth team has overcome psychological, tactical and even defensive stubborn diseases, bringing hope to the outside world. But perhaps it really responded to that sentence, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

The goal of this tournament is to reach the semi-finals and return to the World Youth Championships after 20 years. After 20 years of waiting, these young players have a historic mission on their shoulders. The team will start long-term preparations from 2024, including the resumption of the "Panda Cup" and the early match between the two opponents in the group stage. In addition, during the training camp in Thailand in 2025, a number of warm-up matches were played to simulate the skills and tactics of the U20 Asian Cup opponents, and the team generally achieved good results, forming a modern tactical system based on high pressing, short pass penetration and side-center combination.

Djurdjevic, whether it is the technical and tactical arrangement in the "Panda Cup" or the on-the-spot scheduling in the group stage, is in line with the rules of the game. The only miscalculation was in the knockout round, in the stalemate stage, the substitution quota was bet on overtime.

Looking at the performance of the national youth in this competition, the advantages and disadvantages are obvious.

In the first game against Qatar, with Kuai Jiwen's long-range shot and Liu Chengyu's single knife, the national youth won 2-1 and got off to a good start. The game showed the team's ability to get into the groove quickly, but it also exposed the conservative and physical problems after taking the lead; In the second match against Kyrgyzstan, the national youth won 5-2 and locked the qualifying place in advance. However, while the offensive end blossomed more, it also exposed the team's lack of defense, including insufficient control of the pace of the game; In the last round of the group stage, the national youth rotated, lost 1-2 to Australia, and advanced to the second place in the group.

Judging from the group stage, no matter how strong or weak the opponent is, the national youth gives everyone the impression that they can fight against their opponents. After playing in Australia, Kuai Jiwen, who did not take a break, did not even feel tired, saying that he still had a lot of energy to play. Although the national youth team does not have much experience in the competition, they have solid personal ability and maturity beyond their age, and the outside world also believes that they are the most promising to return to the World Youth Championships.

In the quarterfinals against Saudi Arabia, the national youth lost 0-1 in an advantageous situation. Whether it is the process or the result, it is difficult for the national youth to accept, and the difficulty of this defeat may accompany these players throughout their careers.

For the national youth players, if they qualify for the World Youth Championships, it means that they have the opportunity to show themselves on a bigger stage and get more recognition. In the game, the national youth did have a lot of opportunities, not to mention the penalty kick that was missed, it was other opportunities, but as long as you grasp one, everything will be different.

It's just that there is really no "if" in the football world, the national youth made up for the defensive problems exposed in the group stage, and even the physical problems did not appear early, but no one expected that Liu Chengyu, who has always been calm, would miss that penalty, and then wasted a great opportunity in front of the goal.

Small accidents or small details have caused such a result, and this has also given some inspiration to the national youth and Chinese football: on the one hand, the boys have shown great potential in the quarterfinals, but the lack of ability to grasp opportunities in key battles exposes the instability of the team; On the other hand, despite failing to achieve the goal of returning to the World Youth Championships, the performance of the national youth team has added positive factors to Chinese football, at least giving people hope.