Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: With the qualifying stage for the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship in China set to kick-off on July 15, the-AFC.com highlights 10 of the hottest prospects who could feature as 38 of the continent’s teams compete for 15 places at the biennial competition, which was won by Japan in 2016.
Wei Shihao, China
China have already qualified for the 2018 tournament as hosts, but in order to ensure the side give a good account of themselves at the finals, will also play in the qualifying process. Key among those with the opportunity to shine is Shanghai SIPG winger Wei Shihao.
With teammates like Oscar, Elkeson, Wu Lei and Hulk, it’s fair to say that 22-year-old Wei has plenty of fine role-models in training, but it’s also true that the Anhui-native was already used to being mentioned in the same breath as big names from a much younger age.
Four years ago, Wei was listed among eight teenagers to watch alongside the likes of Kurt Zouma (Chelsea), Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City) and Luke Shaw (Manchester United) and he seemed to support that view during the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship with a brace of goals as China stunned Japan.
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