Under-23s sink to new goalless low

After missing out on Olympics, squad ends campaign in ignominious fashion

A few days after missing out on qualification for the Tokyo Olympics, China's Under-23 squad failed to rescue any pride as it ended its miserable Asian Football Confederation U-23 Championship campaign with a third straight defeat.

To add to the ignominy, Wednesday's 1-0 loss to Iran in Songkhla, Thailand, meant China had failed to score a single goal at the tournament as it finished bottom of Group C and was eliminated.

The scoreless performance was a historic low for a Chinese under-23 team. Previous squads have registered only one win between them in the previous three editions of the championship, but all managed to at least hit the net－twice in 2013, four times in 2016 and another four in 2018.