首页 新闻 体育 娱乐 游戏 邮箱 搜索 短信 聊天 点卡 天气 答疑 交友 导航


新浪首页 > 新浪教育 > China Starts Off With Victory

China Starts Off With Victory
http://www.sina.com.cn 2004/02/20 12:17  Shanghai Daily

  China walked past Kuwait 1-0 in Guangzhou, southern Guangdong Province, yesterday, as it made a winning start to its campaign to qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.

  China, which reached its first ever World Cup finals in 2002, toyed with the opposition but got its winner late - veteran forward Hao Haidong heading in the only goal in the 75th minute.

  The victory will come as a morale booster for Arie Haan's men as Kuwait is their only tough rival in the Group 4, which also includes Chinese Hong Kong and Malaysia.

  In a late match, Malaysia lost to Hong Kong 1-3 at home.

  The home game at Tianhe Stadium yesterday was a one-sided affair as the Chinese turned on the tempo, playing an attacking brand of football, with Manchester City defender Sun Jihai working the midfield to bolster the team's offense, which was led by Hao and youngster Zhang Yuning.

  But the host lost Li Tie before the match after the Everton midfielder broke his right leg during training.

  In the first half, the Kuwaitis were forced into their half by the rampant but error-prone Chinese but managed to withstand the pressure with some tenacious defending.

  Eighteen minutes into the second half, Hao buried the ball into the net with a leaping kick, but referee Roman Dmitry of Uzbekistan ruled the ball had crossed out of bounds before being passed to Hao.

  It was not until the 75th minute that the 33-year-old Hao headed a cross from defender Wei Xin into the net.

  Until the goal China had wasted its home advantage, squandering possession with wayward passes despite dominating the match.

  "We played quite well," Hao insisted after the match. "It doesn't matter when we score. Scoring in the first minute to me is the same as scoring in the final seconds. A win is a win. We won the match and that is most important."

  The Kuwaitis began to show their frustration in the latter minutes of the game, with Hamad al-Tayab sent off for spitting in the face of Li Weifeng after an exchange of words.

  The team, coached by Brazilian Paulo Cesar Carpeggiani, failed to get a single shot on goal.

  Haan admitted after the game that the contest should have been wrapped up within the opening 45 minutes and was just pleased to have put away his first Middle East opponent since he took charge of the national team 398 days ago.

  "I didn't expect Kuwait to pose so much problems for us," said Haan.

  "I underestimated them and their players did well to unsettle us. There were a few opportunities for us to break the deadlock in the opening half but we did not capitalize.

  "I told the team to be patient at half-time, reminding them that the match is over 90 minutes and not 45. I am delighted to clinch this win."

  Before the match, Sun had said that he hoped to play an attacking role.

  But "it is not up to me to choose the position," he suggested. "Personally, I prefer to play further up front because attacking is a fine experience for any player.''

  China could have named a stronger team but its younger players, such as Du Wei and Sun Xiang, are with the under-23 team that is preparing for the Olympic Games qualifiers in March.




英语学习论坛】【评论】【 】【打印】【关闭
Annotation

新闻查询帮助



文化教育意见反馈留言板电话:010-62630930-5178 欢迎批评指正

新浪简介 | About Sina | 广告服务 | 招聘信息 | 网站律师 | SINA English | 会员注册 | 产品答疑

Copyright © 1996 - 2004 SINA Inc. All Rights Reserved

版权所有 新浪网
北京市通信公司提供网络带宽