I didn't think China was that much better today, although they certainly controlled the play in the third.
What often strikes me at this level of play is that teams may dictate pace and flow in a game but skill levels are such that they don't really generate quality scoring chances, or when they do, they don't have the first clue how to cash in. Only one of the six goals scored in this game was from a quality scoring chance, for example. On the other side of the coin, defending is a lot easier when you don't have to face top-quality opposition. If a team showed up to a competition like this with two or three players that are above everyone else, that team can often win a tournament like this, even if that team's depth overall is lacking.
At the end of the day, this is actually the kind of thing that makes these tournaments so interesting. How many times have there been surprising results at IB, IIA and IIB U20 tournaments?
