On April 29, China's National Olympic Team (NOC) failed to make it out of the group stage of the U23 Asian Cup with 1 win and 2 losses. This result reveals the lowest problem of Chinese soccer youth training, especially the lack of strength of players in the 2001 age group. According to an article written by Soccer Daily, the 2001 age group is basically the lowest valley of Chinese soccer youth training, and the selection surface of non-Olympic age groups such as '03 and '07 is also insufficient. Although FIFA's reforms, which will change the U17 World Cup from a biennial to an annual tournament starting in 2025 and increase the number of teams in the World Junior Championships to 48 from the previous 24, have given China's national teams hope of breaking out of Asia, it will not be easy to realize this ideal.
It is understood that the 2001 age group was essentially the nadir of Chinese soccer youth training, and that the quality of the subsequent post-00 age groups began to rebound, but the rebound was slow and encountered obstacles in the process. For example, the 2005 age group has almost no systematic tournaments, let alone quality tournaments, between the ages of 15 and 17; while the 2007 age group lacks systematic quality matches between the ages of 13 and 15. As a result, these players may have improved technically, but their tactical ability is severely lacking. In addition, the Olympic age group has a relatively wide selection surface, while the non-Olympic age groups such as 03 and 07 have an insufficient selection surface. In the 2023 U17 League, for example, the participating teams are in the '06 and '07 age groups, but there are few players of outstanding ability.
