On the morning of July 18, as the Chinese men's soccer selection team began their second outdoor training in Japan since arriving in the country, the preparation meeting for the East Asian Cup was also held intensely at the hotel where they were staying. The results of the meeting revealed that the Chinese team will wear bright red to face the South Korean powerhouse in the first round of the tournament.
The focus of the preparatory meeting was to go over the rules of the tournament in detail. It is reported that each team's participation list will be capped at 26, excluding the 11 players in the starting lineup, the remaining 15, as well as the accompanying coaches and staff, totaling 11, will make up the bench lineup. The substitution rules in the match are consistent with FIFA standards, with each team replacing a maximum of five players per match and using a maximum of three substitutions in a single match, while substitutions after halftime will not count towards the number limit.
It was also confirmed that the ball for the tournament was not a Nike brand, but the VAIS ULTIMO PRO, produced by a local Japanese company. This soccer ball has been described as "the most beautiful soccer ball in the world" and was used as the official ball for the 100th High School Championship in Japan.
It is worth mentioning that the Chinese team will face South Korea as the home team on the 20th, so the team specially chose the red home jersey. Meanwhile, in the first round of the Women's East Asian Cup on the same day, the Chinese women's soccer team will also wear red, and rival Chinese Taipei women's soccer team to start a fierce competition.
