Chinese team to play 10 matches to prepare for Asian Games

Xu Haofeng (L) of China defends Miyaichi Ryo of Japan during a 2022 EAFF (East Asian Football Federation) E-1 Football Championship men's match between China and Japan at Toyota Stadium in Toyota City in Aichi prefecture, Japan, July 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

Chinese men's football team will play eight games in Dubai and then travel to New Zealand for two more in preparation for the Hangzhou Asian Games.

BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese men's football team will play 10 matches in February and March as part of their preparation for this year's Hangzhou Asian Games.

The Chinese side, comprised of 24 under-24 players for the Asian Games, departed for Dubai, the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday after completing a 10-day training camp in Foshan, Guangdong province, according to a press release from the Chinese Football Association (CFA).

The players have had compact training at the camp under head coach Aleksandar Jankovic, said the release.

"We had two training sessions every day from Monday to Saturday. Only on Sunday afternoon, we had a rest," the release quoted an unnamed player as saying.

The Chinese side, who played only seven competitive matches over the past three and half years, need high-quality games to whip them into shape, the CFA said in its release.

They will play eight games in Dubai before going to New Zealand to play two more against the hosts.

"The core of the Asian Games team preparations in 2023 is to play more high-quality games," the release said.

The Asian Games is scheduled from September 23 to October 8 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.