China beat China's Hong Kong 1-0, finish third at East Asian Cup

China finished third after edging past China's Hong Kong 1-0 in their final game at the EAFF E-1 Football Championship, which is also known as the East Asian Cup, in Yongin, South Korea, on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Japan defeated the hosts South Korea 1-0 to top the standings with three consecutive wins and retained their title.

China opened the scoring in the 20th minute when Huang Zhengyu converted a close-range finish following a well-coordinated team move, assisted by Zhang Yuning just outside the box.

China continued to press in the second half, increasing the tempo and creating several attacking opportunities before the team eventually held on for a one-goal win at the final whistle.

China's caretaker coach Dejan Djurdjevic noted after the game that the East Asian Cup provided valuable experience against strong opponents. "In such tough games, we are trying to build a team by blending young and veteran players, so that people can see the future of the national team and Chinese football," he said.

Chinese goalkeeper Yan Junling echoed the view, noting that the team had two main goals at this tournament – to give young players game time and to let them experience the tempo in major competition.

"Many of them played for the national team for the first time, and we actually improved match by match. Hopefully, they can take away valuable lessons from these three games," he said.

Captain Zhang Yuning said after the game that facing top Asian teams like Japan and South Korea highlighted the need to further raise the intensity of domestic league competitions.

"I believe that as we continue to build chemistry through future games, we will have better prospects heading into tournaments like the Asian Cup and the World Cup," he said.