Sports / China
China coach wary ahead of Asian Cup opener
By Chen Xiangfeng (Chinadaily)
Updated: 2007-07-10 08:32
China opens its Asian Cup campaign against co-hosts Malaysia today with
head coach Zhu Guanghu warning his players to leave nothing to chance.
Zhu's caution comes after a series of upsets in the tournament so far.
On Sunday co-hosts Vietnam, playing its first Asian Cup tie in 47 years,
shocked the Gulf Cup champions United Arab Emirates 2-0. At the same
time, favorites Australia needed a last-minute goal to salvage a point
against unheralded Oman.
In the opening game on Saturday, co-hosts Thailand did better than
expected by drawing 1-1 with Iraq.
"Thailand even showed signs of winning the match in the second half. The
same thing happened during Vietnam's match as they scored both goals in
the second half," said Zhu.
"It means the hosts have a big advantage after 45 minutes as the heat and
humidity works their favor.
"Balancing energy in the two halves is very important for us. And we also
have to hold on in the second half and take every minute seriously. A
moment of distraction may cost us points."
Zhu's men completed their preparations with an unconvincing warm-up win
against Melbourne Victory last Wednesday.
But their last full international friendly was on June 2 when they were
thrashed 4-1 by the United States.
Under-pressure Zhu has been told by the Chinese Football Association that
he will be sacked if the team fails to reach the semifinals.
"The first match is very important if we want to advance into the
knock-out stage. I know there are difficulties as visitors but we have to
win."
After the opener against Malaysia, China will face tougher tasks against
three-time champions Iran, and Uzbekistan, Asia's fifth-ranked team.
With Iran odds-on to make the top two, China's July 18 shoot-out with
Uzbekistan is shaping up as the crunch fixture in the tournament's 'group
of death.'
Zhu blamed the disastrous result against the United States on the absence
of many key players, but with the country's best players at his disposal
there can be no excuses this time.
Playmaker Zheng Zhi, impressive during a loan spell at Charlton Athletics
last season, leads several players with European experience including
Manchester City's Sun Jihai, Manchester United forward Dong Fangzhuo,
Sheffield United's Li Tie and Energie Cottbus midfielder Shao Jiayi.
Defenders Du Wei and Sun Xiang also have had loan spells at Glasgow
Celtic and PSV Eindhoven respectively.
China was runner-up in the last edition of the Asian Cup but have since
gone backwards, dropping nearly 30 places in the FIFA rankings and
failing to reach last year's World Cup.
Zheng was part of the team that lost in the 2004 final against Japan in
Beijing, and he said the first match would be crucial if the team wants
to progress as far again.
"Of course, there was a lot of pressure for us to do well as the hosts in
2004, but being the home side also gave us many advantages then," he said.
"This time we have to meet the hosts in the opening match and that could
be a very tough test for us.
"We got a lot of confidence from the support of our fans back then, but
now we are playing away from home and we will need to put in a greater
effort to emulate that performance in China."
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