Twenty-two years after last appearing in an Asian Cup final, Chinese soccer returned to the continent's biggest stage — not through the senior national team, but via a youthful U23 squad carrying long-unrealized hopes.

The ending was not a fairy tale, yet the journey offered a rare and powerful reminder of what Chinese soccer can still aspire to achieve.

In Saturday's AFC U23 Asian Cup final in Saudi Arabia, China's U23 men's team fell 4-0 to Japan. Team China's Spanish head coach, Antonio Puche, acknowledged the gap, describing Japan as "on a different level", and calling the score line "harsh". But he was unequivocal in his praise for his players.

"I'm very proud of my players," Puche said. "Losing naturally brings disappointment, but we have to stay balanced."

"We have never been in such a situation," he said of the final, "but the players showed great spirit right up to the final whistle."

China entered the final unbeaten and without conceding a single goal. The defeat sealed a runner-up finish, yet it also capped a breakthrough campaign that rewrote history. Team China progressed beyond the group stage of the U23 Asian Cup for the first time, battled through successive knockout rounds, and reached the final, a result that few had dared to imagine only weeks earlier.

Each hard-fought match answered skepticism with resilience, surprising fans back home and rekindling optimism in a soccer landscape long starved of uplifting moments.

While the U23s were making waves on the international stage, change was also unfolding at the senior level.

Newly appointed men's national team head coach Shao Jiayi has been leading a revamped China squad through an intensive winter training camp in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Following a demanding "two sessions per day" training regimen, the team has focused on building physical endurance while improving tactical cohesion.

In March, Shao will lead China to Australia for the FIFA Series 2026, where they will face Australia, Cameroon, and Curacao. The tournament will mark his first official competitive outing since taking charge of the national team, and it has drawn close attention from both fans and observers eager to see the direction the rebuild is going in.