Rewritten Article:
By Hu Dikai, Extreme News Reporter
On the evening of July 7, 2025, the 2025 East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Football Championship, commonly known as the East Asia Cup, officially kicked off in South Korea. In the opening match, the Chinese national men's football team faced the host country, South Korea, and suffered a 0-3 defeat.
The East Asia Cup is an international football tournament organized by the East Asian Football Federation, first held in Japan in 2003. Since then, China, Japan, and South Korea have taken turns hosting the competition, which features both men's and women's football events. The tournament is held every two years, and this year marks its 10th edition, with four teams participating: South Korea, China, Japan, and Hong Kong. In previous years, China won the men's East Asia Cup in 2005 and 2010, while also hosting the tournament in Chongqing in 2008 and Wuhan in 2015.
展开剩余80%After the national team's exit from the final 18 in the World Cup qualifiers, a decline in global rankings, and the dismissal of coach Ivan, this year's East Asia Cup marks a fresh start for the Chinese national football team. It also represents the debut of Dejan Stankovi? as the acting head coach of the senior national team. According to the tournament schedule, China’s team would first face South Korea, followed by Japan and Hong Kong.
In the match against South Korea, the starting lineup for China included: 1-Yan Junling, 25-Wu Miti Jiang, 5-Zhu Chenjie, 3-Gao Zhunyi, 4-Jiang Shenglong, 6-Huang Zhengyu, 14-Gao Tianyi, 23-Xie Wenheng, 17-Kuai Jiwen, 15-Wang Yudong, and 9-Zhang Yuning. This \"new\" lineup was led by Zhang Yuning as captain, with the oldest player being Yan Junling at 34 years old, and the youngest being Wang Yudong, at just 18. The team’s average age was 25.1 years, and they adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation, a significant departure from the 4-4-2 diamond midfield and single defensive midfielder system used under Ivan.
In the first half, South Korea, playing on their home turf, quickly took control of the game. In the 8th minute, Lee Dong-kyung of South Korea unleashed a stunning shot from the left side just outside the penalty box, sending the ball into the top corner of the goal to break the deadlock. The Chinese team found themselves trailing 0-1. Then, in the 21st minute, South Korea’s Lee Tae-seok sent in a cross from the left wing, which was met by a header from Kim Moon-hwi, doubling the lead to 0-2.
In the second half, at the 55th minute, China made two substitutions: Xie Wenheng and Kuai Jiwen were replaced by Wei Shihao and Serginho. A minute later, South Korea earned a corner kick. Yan Junling, the Chinese goalkeeper, failed to completely clear the ball after a save, and Kim Joo-seong pounced on the rebound to score, extending South Korea's lead to 0-3. The game ended with a 3-0 scoreline in favor of South Korea, with China failing to score.
Historical records show that the Chinese national football team had faced South Korea 38 times before, with China winning only 2 matches, drawing 13, and losing 23, putting them at a severe disadvantage. In these 38 encounters, China scored 26 goals while conceding 56. The most recent encounter between the two teams was on June 11, 2024, during the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup, where China lost 0-1 to South Korea away from home. The last time China defeated South Korea was on March 23, 2017, when they won 1-0 under coach Marcello Lippi in a World Cup qualifier.
Since the East Asia Cup is not a mainstream international tournament, neither South Korea nor Japan called up players from European leagues. For both of these top Asian teams, the competition was more of a chance for testing new players, with second- and third-string teams taking part. As for China, the Chinese Football Association announced on June 27, 2025, that Dejan Stankovi? would serve as the acting head coach of the national men’s team for this year’s East Asia Cup, leading a virtually all-new, full-strength squad into the competition.
Although China failed to win the opening match and struggled to score, they will face Japan on July 12 and Hong Kong on July 15. According to the tournament’s format, the four teams play a round-robin group stage, with the team earning the most points lifting the championship trophy. If teams are tied on points, the goal difference will be the first tiebreaker, followed by goals scored.
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This rewrite maintains the core details and events of the original article while adding descriptive touches and enhancing readability.
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