日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

China keeps World Cup dream alive

By SHI FUTIAN | China Daily | Updated: 2021-06-17 07:54
Share
Share - WeChat
China's Zhang Yuning celebrates scoring his team's third goal with captain Wu Xi to wrap up a 3-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Syria in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on Tuesday. The win secured China a spot in the final phase of Asian zone qualifying.

Victory over Syria buoys fans, but tougher tests await in final phase of Asian zone qualifying

Team China's surprising victory over Syria on Tuesday delivered another dose of feel-good factor for the fans. Booking a ticket to next year's World Cup finals, however, remains a mammoth task for Li Tie's men.

Spearheaded by star striker Wu Lei, a 3-1 triumph over Syria in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, secured Team China a spot in the final round of Asian zone qualifiers.

With the eight group winners and four best second-place finishers progressing, Syria had already sealed its spot before Tuesday's clash as Group A's top team. China finished three points back in second place thanks to an encouraging run of four straight victories since May 30.

"This was not an easy match. I'm very satisfied with the strong fighting spirit and persistence that our players showed on the pitch. We controlled most of the match and created many chances, although I'd be happier with a 2-0," head coach Li told the post-match media conference.

"We still don't have many opportunities to play more matches. I hope we can arrange more quality friendlies with stronger teams to prepare for the coming qualifiers. The team can only grow by participating in high-quality matches and playing against stronger rivals in the final round of the Asian qualifiers."

Kicking off in September, the final phase will feature 12 teams: Syria, Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Japan, United Arab Emirates, South Korea, China, Oman, Iraq, Vietnam, and Lebanon. Group E winner Qatar was assured of its spot at the 2022 World Cup finals as host.

According to Xinhua, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will stage the draw for the final phase of qualification on July 1, with the 12 teams separated into six pots. While Japan and Iran are in the first pot as the top seeds, China joins the UAE in the fourth pot-illustrating the difficult task that awaits Li's men.

There's no doubt, though, that Team China's performances have improved under Li. The former China international and Everton midfielder took the reins in early 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold and disrupted his early plans for the job.

Team China head coach Li Tie issues instructions to his players during Tuesday's triumph over Syria. REUTERS

With the international schedule wiped out by the pandemic, Li was limited to training camps and friendlies against domestic club teams.

Last month's 7-0 victory over Guam in front of 30,000 spectators in Suzhou, Jiangsu province was his first official match in charge. Li had been looking forward to more matches with the home fans in attendance until COVID-19 cases in the Syria and Maldives squads saw the games moved to Sharjah.

However, China overcame the UAE's searing temperatures, as well as pandemic-related logistical issues, to win all three games in Sharjah, beating the Philippines 2-0 and the Maldives 5-0 before stunning Syria.

"I'm very touched and I think we should give our wholehearted support to Li Tie," said former Chinese international Fan Zhiyi in a recent online interview. "Li Tie took over the Chinese squad at a very difficult time. Even the most renowned international coaches could probably not have helped us. Chinese soccer's future should depend on our own efforts."

Li's predecessor was Italian World Cup winner Marcello Lippi, who resigned from his second spell at the helm following a 2-1 qualifying defeat to Syria in 2019.

Li had worked with Lippi as an assistant coach, and acknowledged the Italian's influence and input after Tuesday's triumph.

"I truly am very satisfied with my players' performance today, and now I want to show my respect to Marcello Lippi. I really want to thank him for his years of help to me and the squad," said Li.

"This trip to West Asia has been very tough for our staff. We never experienced anything (sudden relocation of matches) like this before. For the team, this was truly a huge test. But we all made it through."

1 2 Next   >>|
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 亚洲日本在线天堂无码 | 国产午夜免费一区二区三区 | 亚洲第一页在线播放 | 久久99精品久久久久久秒播 | 精彩视频一区 | 日韩精品视频在线 | 亚洲色域网 | 九九线精品视频 | 99色综合 | 韩国三级午夜理伦三级三 | 中文字幕在线二区 | 欧美日韩国产精品自在自线 | 婷婷激情久久 | 亚洲韩精品欧美一区二区三区 | 欧美www视频| 欧美一级黄色免费看 | 国产男女交性视频播放 | 欧美精品一区在线 | 亚洲精品99 | 亚洲精品久久一区二区三区四区 | 精品一区二区三区水蜜桃 | 99热免费精品 | 色播欧美 | 久久99中文字幕 | 在线观看日本污污ww网站 | 国产精品久久久久影视青草 | 成人一区二区在线 | 啪一啪在线视频 | 欧美一级片免费看 | 免费在线公开视频 | 短视频网站免费观看 | 奇米影视7777 | 国产毛片a级 | 一区二区欧美在线 | 欧美综合久久 | 这里只有精品在线视频观看 | 欧美性生活视频 | 国产综合久久久久 | 国产精品一区二区三区免费 | 剑来高清在线观看 | 日本免费高清一区 |