Thailand lend helping hand to China in Asian Cup
China survived an almighty scare before scraping into next year's Asian Cup on goal difference thanks to a late penalty in their 3-1 defeat to Iraq on Wednesday.
The perennial under-achievers looked set to miss out on reaching an 11th successive Asian Cup as they went three goals down and rivals Lebanon plundered a fifth goal against Thailand in Group B.
As they stood, China were set to miss out on a berth as the best third-placed team in all the groups, despite starting the evening three points ahead of Lebanon and with a superior goal difference.
But deep into the second half, Thailand’s Adisak Kraisorn scored in Bangkok to make it 5-2, before Zhang Xizhe slotted the crucial penalty in Sharjah that took China to the 2015 tournament in Australia.
The dramatic turn of events, played out within minutes of each other but thousands of miles apart, will have left China’s new coach Alain Perrin in no doubt about the size of his task.
While China heaved a sigh of relief, former champions Iraq were left to celebrate leap-frogging China into Group C’s second automatic qualifying spot thanks to two goals from 2007 hero Younis Mahmoud. Saudi Arabia had already clinched the first berth from the group.
Iraq thoroughly dominated China on Wednesday, with Mahmoud, who scored the winner in Iraq’s 1-0 Asian Cup final win against Saudi Arabia seven years ago, finding the target twice in the first half before Ali Adnan scored their third after the break.
Mahmoud, who was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the 2007 tournament, got his first from close range in the 23rd minute and then finished off a rebound off Chinese goalkeeper Yan Zhi’s body.
Iraq went 3-0 up when Ali Adnan scored from a tight angle in the 57th minute, but China got out of jail in the 73rd when Yu Hanchao was fouled inside the penalty area and Zhang slotted the ball coolly past goalkeeper Jalal Hassan’s outstretched right hand.
In Bangkok meanwhile, Mohamad Ghaddar put Lebanon on their way after just two minutes when left unmarked he headed in from a corner, and Hassan Maatouk doubled their lead when he capitalised on a weak defensive header from Thailand’s goalkeeper.
Teeratep Winothai hit back from the penalty spot but Hassan Ali Saad scored from close range – again taking advantage of slack defending – to make it 3-1 on the stroke of half-time.
When Maatouk smashed home his second on 46 minutes, and with China trailing against Iraq, Lebanon were within sight of the six-goal swing they needed to reach the Asian Cup.
And there were celebrations on the bench when captain Roda Antar swept the ball home to make it 5-1 – enough to put Lebanon through.
But Adisak doused Lebanon’s hopes when he got Thailand’s second on 76 minutes, around the same time China’s Zhang stepped up to bury his crucial spot-kick in Sharjah.
Malaysia beat Yemen 2-1 away in Group D but their faint hopes of qualifying as the best third-placed team were ended by the victories for Iraq and Lebanon.
Hong Kong and Syria also had their flickering ambitions extinguished when they lost 3-1 to Vietnam and 2-1 to Jordan respectively.
In Doha, Bahrain and Qatar played out a goalless draw in a match with nothing at stake as both teams had already qualified for next year’s tournament.
Perrin warns of changes
New manager Alain Perrin warned China to expect changes and hard work ahead of next year’s Asian Cup after they came perilously close to missing out on a place in the competition.
Perrin said China were so distracted by events elsewhere on a frenetic final night of qualifying that it was as if they were playing the match in Sharjah “with two souls”.
“The first one was on the pitch and the second was outside it as we were monitoring the other results of the other matches in order to see if we can finish as the best third-placed team in the qualifiers, and this is what happened,” said the Frenchman.
“Iraq controlled the first half and they scored two goals while we were the better side in the second period, we pulled a goal back and could have scored more. We must now work more and do some changes for a better future.”
Perrin now has nearly a year to improve a national team which still struggles to impress, despite China’s growing clout at club level after Guangzhou Evergrande won last year’s AFC Champions League. The well-travelled coach, whose CV includes stints at Lyon, Marseille, Portsmouth and the Middle East, was China’s surprise choice last week after Juan Antonio Camacho was sacked in June.
China, who won only two of their six qualifiers, will have their work cut out at next year’s tournament in Australia with heavy-duty competition in the form of the hosts, defending champions Japan and South Korea.
