China boss Maddaloni urges fans to become 12th man at AFC U-23 Championship 2018

Speaking exclusively to the-AFC.com, the call comes in reaction to the discovery of China’s group stage opponents, revealed in Tuesday’s impressive draw ceremony in Changzhou, which will host all three of their group stage matches.

The hosts will meet Qatar, Uzbekistan and Oman in Group A, a difficult proposition according to former Juventus and Guangzhou Evergrande assistant coach Maddaloni.

“I think the draw is very tough. In this draw, all of the 16 teams are strong,” he said from Guangzhou.

“I think Qatar are one of the best teams in the competition, and they have many players who played in the national team during qualifying for Russia (2018).

“Uzbekistan; we played them recently and they are also very strong, so it will be difficult, but we are playing at home, and we are confident of qualifying for the next round.”