China beat Iran 5-4 in a thrilling penalty shootout to reach the Asian Cup final for the first time in 20 years at the Workers' Stadium in Beijing Tuesday.

The hosts will fight for the title in a mouthwatering final against defending champions Japan on Saturday.

This was also a historic win for China, who won only three and lost eight in their previous 14 meetings against Iran and have lost all their clashes since 1994.

Iran, who had defender Ali Badavi sent off two minutes into the second half, forced China to a penalty shootout after the two sides were deadlocked at 1-1 after 120 minutes.

Goalkeeper Liu Yunfei became China's hero No.1 after blocking Iran defender Tanya Golmohammadi's shot and gave the hosts a 5-4 win, sending the home crowd of 60,000 into frenzy.

China's Zheng Zhi was the first to shoot and Iran captain Ali Daei answered with no mistake. After Zhao Junzhe hit the post and Iran scored through Mehdi Mahdavikia, the visitors took a 3-2 lead and saw a glimpse of hope to win.

Li Xiaopeng and Javad Nekounam then both scored for China and Iran respectively before leftback Sun Xiang put it 4-4 from the spot.

Iman Mobali's shot flew into safety after hitting the crossbar and Shao Jiayi, who was substituted late in the second half, returned to the pitch and fired China to a 5-4 lead.

Golmohammadi should have equalized for Iran again but the Chinese 'keeper made the difference at the crucial moment.

"You always need a little bit luck in a penalty kick," China coach Arie Haan said after the match. "We are lucky tonight."

"This s an exciting match," he added. "Both teams are very strong and Iran were well organized and very difficult for us even with 10 men left."

It seemed that luck was not at China's side soon after the match when their number one striker Hao Haidong was forced to leave the pitch because of an recurring knee injury.

Hao, 34, who played with the injury and scored China's first goal in their 3-0 win over Iraq last Saturday, evaded an Iran defender on the left of the box to cross for a racing Shao in the 18th minute. The Munich 1860 midfielder fired it home from close range.

Hao proved that he is still not match-fit enough, and his troubled knee hurt again after he landed awkwardly near the goalmouth.

He was stretched off the field and replaced by Sun Jihai, who plays with English premier league side Manchester City as a full back. Hao departure immediately took its toll on China's striking forces, who simply could not put the ball at the back of the Iranian net.

Captain Li Weifeng should have made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute, but the former Everton defender directed his header over the crossbar.

The Iranians staged a spirited fightback after that and in the 39th minute they made it 1-1.

Midfielder Mohammad Ali Karimi weaved his way into the right of the Chinese box, squaring the ball across the goal to leave Mohammad Alavi to have a tap-in.

But luck returned to Haan again when Croat Branko Ivankovic' side was reduced to 10 men only two minutes after the break.

Zare was shown a red card for a retaliation push on Shao, who immediately fell to the ground in front of the goalmouth.

China dominated the game thereafter but with Iran sitting back to defend, the hosts still fought it hard to score another goal.

They wasted their best second-half chance in the 79th minute when Sun Jihai, unmarked in front of the goal, shot a Li Jinyu cross inches wide of Iran 'keeper Ebrahim Mirzapour's right-hand post.

It was Iran that should have killed off the match one minute into stoppage time, but defender Ali Badavi's close-range shot went surprisingly wide. China made a similar mistake at the other end with Li Jinyu drilling the ball too high above the crossbar when the match was heading for the extra time.

After left back Sun Xiang's long shot hit the woodwork and Sun Jihai stroke the side netting, the Iran jinx must have crossed Haan's mind, although he denied after the match failing to win the match after 120 minutes was not a disadvantage to China.

"Iran defended very well with 10 men and it's very difficult for us to score," he said. "So I think it will be not too bad to decide the match through penalty kick, because we have very good penalty kickers. I always believe we can win the penalty shootout."

Iran coach Ivankovic only had luck to blame but gave credit to his players for their performance.

"You always need luck in penalty shootout. I am proud of my players. They showed that they tried to do their best to win."

But he conceded that China deserved to qualify for the finals.

"China played very well and they deserve a final place," the Croat said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2004)