China's national football teams to play in E-1 Football Championship

BEIJING, Dec 5 (Xinhua) -- Both the Chinese men's and women's national football teams are set to compete in the EAFF E-1 Football Championship 2017 Finals to be held from Dec. 8 to 16 in Japan.

The E-1 Championship, formerly called the East Asian Cup, started in 2003, and this will be its seventh edition. China has won the men's compeition twice, in 2005 and 2010, while the women's side has never claimed a trophy.

After failing to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia, the Chinese men's team currently lacks a long-term project, so coach Marcello Lippi called up a young squad for the E-1 Championship, with nearly half of its players born in 1990s.

Alongside some injury worries, Lippi and his team are still cotnending with getting back on track, and will play their first match in the E-1 on Dec. 9.

For the women's side, which will kick off the E-1 tourney on Dec. 8, new coach Sigurdur Ragnar Eyjolfsson will lead the team on this new chapter of its journey. Enditem