However, China’s fans were disappointed again when their team lost to Iraq at an Asia Qualifier. The fans were enlightened with hope after their team had beat Macau 9-1; however, when the end of the game neared, AFC Asian Cup MVP striker Younis Mahmoud scored a goal for Iraq making the final score 1-0 in favor of Iraq.
China’s hope for the World Cup however, also ended there since this had been a crucial game and the loss had put Iraq in front of China. With only the top two teams moving on, China's hopes to be in the World Cup were gone. Even the 4-0 win against Singapore after losing to Iraq made no difference.
Any dreams depend on Iraq losing their next two games against Jordan and Singapore; however, the chances of Iraq losing to Singapore are fairly small and not many fans are dwelling on it. With China beating Singapore 4-0 the challenge for Iraq to do the same is not great and only with a miracle will Iraq lose letting China go to the round robin.
Previous years were bad for China and not a single year have they played at the World Cup. Their closest reach was in 2004 when they were runner up. In 2002 they received bad press after they had reached the World Cup finals and failed to score a single goal.
This year China’s team had also hired head coach Jose Antonio Camacho in best effort to finally win the World Cup. Some fans are angered by the last minute coach change which might have decreased the chance of the team going to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Former coach Gao Hongbo had one of the highest winning percentage (65%) for a Chinese manager. The replacement of former coach Gao therefore brought much confusion to why he was replaced by current head coach Camacho.
Chinese Soccer Administrative Centre vice-president Yu Hongchen explained, "The qualifying stage of 2014 World Cup is just a temporary task for him. Even if the task is failed, Camacho will not lose the job. When we started to find a new coach for the national team, we mainly focus on European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. First of all, they have advanced football concepts, and secondly they have a productive youth training system, which we can learn from. We hope he can help us to find a suitable style."
China’s hope for the World Cup however, also ended there since this had been a crucial game and the loss had put Iraq in front of China. With only the top two teams moving on, China's hopes to be in the World Cup were gone. Even the 4-0 win against Singapore after losing to Iraq made no difference.
Any dreams depend on Iraq losing their next two games against Jordan and Singapore; however, the chances of Iraq losing to Singapore are fairly small and not many fans are dwelling on it. With China beating Singapore 4-0 the challenge for Iraq to do the same is not great and only with a miracle will Iraq lose letting China go to the round robin.
Previous years were bad for China and not a single year have they played at the World Cup. Their closest reach was in 2004 when they were runner up. In 2002 they received bad press after they had reached the World Cup finals and failed to score a single goal.
This year China’s team had also hired head coach Jose Antonio Camacho in best effort to finally win the World Cup. Some fans are angered by the last minute coach change which might have decreased the chance of the team going to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Former coach Gao Hongbo had one of the highest winning percentage (65%) for a Chinese manager. The replacement of former coach Gao therefore brought much confusion to why he was replaced by current head coach Camacho.
Chinese Soccer Administrative Centre vice-president Yu Hongchen explained, "The qualifying stage of 2014 World Cup is just a temporary task for him. Even if the task is failed, Camacho will not lose the job. When we started to find a new coach for the national team, we mainly focus on European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. First of all, they have advanced football concepts, and secondly they have a productive youth training system, which we can learn from. We hope he can help us to find a suitable style."
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