In the third round of Group A of the U20 Asian Cup qualifying tournament in Hubayr, Saudi Arabia, in the early hours of September 15, Beijing time zone, the 2003-born China U19 men's soccer team won by five goals over the Maldives, and even if the hosts of the U19 team of Uzbekistan's performance in the final stage of the final stage of the competition is not included in the points consideration, the China U19 team is still with two consecutive victories to lead the Group A table for the time being. The official website of the AFC commented on this round of the tournament under the headline "China's hot form". The team's head coach, Spaniard Antonio, said in an interview that the team's performance was satisfactory, but on the Asian stage, the Chinese team is not the top team, and the 5-0 score objectively reflects the actual strength of the Chinese team. At the same time, Beijing time on September 15 early morning, the AFC released the U20 Asian Cup qualifying groups standings. Although the tournament has entered the 3rd round, most of the teams have only played two matches because some groups have five teams participating and there are teams rotating in each round. The Chinese U19 team is no exception. Given that the host Uzbekistan U19s' record in the qualifiers does not count towards the promotion rankings, the Chinese U19s have temporarily taken the top spot in Group A with two consecutive wins. The Saudis are currently second in the group despite having one less game to count. Given the difference in strength between Saudi Arabia and Myanmar, the two teams will face each other directly in the final round of qualifying for the top spot in the group. Antonio, head coach of the Chinese U19 team, was generally satisfied with the two consecutive wins. He said, "Getting six points in a row is something to be recognized. I think the team played quite well throughout the game. The competition in all our groups was very fierce and we put in a lot of effort. The most important thing is that we won the matches and also accumulated a goal difference." However, some fans felt that only five clean sheets against a relatively weaker Maldives team did not seem enough, especially after Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia had previously beaten the Maldives by huge margins of 7-0 and 11-0 respectively. To this, Antonio responded, "We should keep the right attitude, after all, we are not a strong team in Asia. Of course, our young players work very hard and the whole team is organized and disciplined. The game basically reflected our true level. The next thing we need to think about is how to play well in the next game, rather than focusing on the past goal difference. In fact, we created more chances than we scored. Therefore, I am still satisfied with the players' performance." As for the crucial round of matches that will determine the fate of advancement, the showdown with group stage hosts Saudi Arabia U19, Antonio made it clear: "The match against Saudi Arabia is very crucial and we will give our best. I believe we can succeed in advancing."
