How will China fare in its World Cup qualifiers?
- By Bejan Siavoshy
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E-mail CRI, April 22, 2015
China can count itself among the teams in Asia preparing to do battle for a trip to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. With the second-round draw of Asia's cup qualifiers having been announced last week, Team Dragon is considered the strongest in its group, which includes Qatar, Bhutan, the Maldives and Hong Kong, China.
But before we see how China matches up with their on-pitch adversaries, let's see just where the men of the Middle Kingdom stand ahead of the group opener.
China has been in its best form as a football team since its dismal 2013 performance, when the team lost 5-1 against a Thai squad that was, at the time, ranked 47 spots below them in 142nd. The subsequent sacking of then-coach Jose Antonio Camacho opened the way for current manager Alain Perrin to step in and turn things around for Team Dragon in 2014.
Under Perrin's guidance, China went on a tear leading up to the Asian Cup in 2015, racking up a 10-game unbeaten streak. Entering the Asian Cup in Australia earlier this year as underdogs in their group, China shut out Saudi Arabia 1-0 in their first group-stage match to put the rest of their competition on notice.
However, it was their 2-1 victory over a surging and higher-ranked Uzbekistan team that got the attention of the Asian soccer world and nabbed China its first Asian Cup quarter-finals berth in 11 years. China went on to finish at the top of the group, with a following win over already-eliminated North Korea.
While China eventually got knocked out of the tournament by Australia, who would go on to win the trophy on their home turf, the Chinese squad was given a warm welcome when they arrived in Beijing following their Asian Cup exit. This, just two years after their embarrassing loss to Thailand, which sparked riots that resulted in at least 100 people being injured, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
So now, at 82nd in the world, China is on something of a comeback and are on the fans' good side (for now), but how will Team Dragon fare against the competition?
The biggest obstacle standing between China and the knockout stage is Qatar. Alain Perrin said as much to Chinese media last week, when the draw was announced. Having coached the Qatari youth team and local clubs in the Gulf nation, the Frenchman said, "I am full of confidence for the success of China, but…I don't want to play against Qatar." Perrin added that, due to his intimate knowledge of the Qataris' level of play, he feels they are "the strongest team" in the group and was hoping to avoid them in the draw.
Perrin might be on to something; China and Qatar last clashed at the 2011 Asian Cup, where the Maroon dumped Team Dragon 2-0. Although they are ranked 99th, the Qataris have only dropped four games in the last 21 games and won their third Gulf Nations cup in 2014. Their last two games were wins in international friendlies over Algeria and Slovenia in March.
Qatar is also eager to show that they are a football power and earn a spot in the World Cup in Russia, before they are given the automatic entrance when they host the tournament in 2022.
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