Yongin FC: One Friendly Match Every Day, Welcoming Chinese Teams to Challenge

Han Bing reporting from Dingnan, Jiangxi "One friendly match daily, Chinese teams are welcome to challenge!" Among the four Korean teams participating, Yongin FC's youth squad was the first to extend an invitation to domestic teams. Yongin FC aims to make full use of this opportunity by playing not only the official matches each day but also an additional friendly match daily to ensure the youth team has "two matches a day," using matches as training to quickly get their winter training into rhythm.

On January 11, after Yongin FC narrowly lost to Shanghai Port in a penalty shootout in their opening match, they immediately contacted the event organizers to arrange a friendly match this morning against a participating Chinese team to refine their lineup and improve form. The Henan team "Guangsu," which had already played a warm-up match with HSFA Hwaseong before the event began, responded promptly. Henan’s head coach Wang Zhi said the team was newly formed and hoped to give their 2012 age group players more opportunities for high-quality matches: "Playing against elite Korean teams is a rare chance that cannot be missed."

This morning, the 2012 age group players from Henan and Yongin FC played a friendly match consisting of two halves of 35 minutes each. Yongin FC assistant coach Fang Yican said that this batch of 2012 players has limited domestic competition experience, so they hope every player can gain enough match practice. Although Henan lost 2-5 in a previous friendly to Korea’s HSFA Hwaseong, in this match Henan got into rhythm early and scored first shortly after kickoff. Yongin FC quickly equalized, but Henan led 2-1 at halftime and scored four more goals in the second half, winning 6-2 in the end.

Henan coach Wang Zhi stated that only by playing more high-quality friendlies can the children continuously build confidence. In this match, Zeng Zihan, Zhang Sailimu, and Liu Enshuo all scored, while Zhao Zilong, born at the end of 2012 and the youngest player on the team, scored twice. Coach Wang hopes to arrange daily friendlies against Korean teams as much as possible to enrich the match schedule and improve training effects, making this trip worthwhile. It is worth mentioning that Henan will officially face Yongin FC tomorrow afternoon in this China-Korea competition. The teams’ performances will be even more anticipated given the results of today’s friendly.

Yongin FC assistant coach Fang Yican believes the team is only about 50% recovered in form since the start of winter training. For players of this age group, match results are less important than improving their condition through competition. He hopes to have a friendly match every day during the event. By scheduling "two matches a day," the team can quickly reach their ideal state and perform better in upcoming games.

Yongin FC assistant coach Fang Yican enthusiastically invited the participating domestic teams, believing that this is the purpose of the China-Korea football exchange matches. More match exchanges will help all teams achieve better winter training results. Additionally, HSFA Hwaseong, which arrived earliest in Dingnan, also expressed the same desire to arrange daily friendlies. According to the event schedule, domestic and Korean teams only have two official matches in the first six rounds. The organizing committee will try to arrange more warm-up matches for Korean teams and encourage more domestic teams to actively sign up to increase opportunities for exchanges with Korean teams.

From January 10 to 20, the "462 Cup" First China-Korea Youth Football Elite Competition, organized by "Football" Newspaper and the Dingnan County People’s Government, is being held at the National Youth Football Training Center in Dingnan, Ganzhou, Jiangxi. The event invites 12 top domestic youth teams and 4 elite Korean squads, covering the 2011 and 2012 age groups. Over the 10-day schedule, the competition aims to focus on China-Korea football exchanges, create high-quality matches, and deepen elite youth training.