Chinese men's U-19 football team to start pre-season preparation for 3rd-tier professional league

BEIJING - China's men's U-19 national football team on Monday called up a 35-player training camp in Shanghai from May 17 to June 6, after the Chinese Football Association (CFA) president Chen Xuyuan confirmed the team will participate in the country's third-tier professional league in the new season.

According to the CFA, the team head coach is Cheng Yaodong, a long-time coach in the Chinese Super League (CSL), while the respected former senior national team manager Liu Dianqiu is appointed as the Director of Football.

The 35-player roster includes two young footballers playing abroad: He Longhai from the youth team of Shonan Bellmare in Japan and Jian Tao from the youth team of Olympique Lyonnais in France. In addition, the CSL defending champion Guangzhou Evergrande and CFA Cup holders Shanghai Shenhua both have five youth players called up for the team.

"The U-19 team aims for the 2024 Paris Olympics. We made the plan because the young players need more high-quality competitions," the CFA boss Chen told media recently. Chinese men's football has failed to qualify for three consecutive Olympic games since the 2008 Beijing Games at home.

"Playing professional league and competing with adults will be definitely helpful for young players. But in consideration of the building system, it is not a long-term choice. If the quality of matches improved in the future, there is no need to do so," head coach Cheng said.

The Chinese football governing body also said earlier that they would introduce some of the CSL U-23 teams into the third-tier, but has not revealed the details on how to change the league format with both the U-19 national team and U-23 club teams.