China facing make-or-break World Cup qualifiers
Print Edition
CHINA’S spending power has taken football by storm but the national team is facing more World Cup heartache heading into a qualifying showdown today.
Chinese clubs splurged a world-leading 331 million euros (US$371 million) on players in the January-February transfer window, and President Xi Jinping is leading a concerted push to turn China into a footballing power.
But Team Dragon will probably have to wait until Qatar 2022 to reach its second World Cup after a stumbling attempt to make the next edition in Russia in 2018.
While Japan, Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and even lowly Thailand look likely to join already qualified South Korea and Qatar in the next round, 96th-ranked China’s hopes are hanging by a thread.
China hosts Maldives today and unbeaten Qatar on Tuesday, needing to win both games to leapfrog China’s Hong Kong into second place in Group C.
Even then, China has five countries ahead of it in the race to progress as one of the four best-performing second-placed teams, along with the eight group winners.
The matches double as qualifiers for the next Asian Cup, meaning China is likely to have to go through a separate round of games to reach the 2019 tournament in the UAE.
“Frankly speaking, from China’s point of view, the Maldives national team doesn’t represent the slightest threat,” striker Yang Xu told CCTV before the game in Wuhan. “We have to be confident. And we should seal the game early.”
Interim coach Gao Hongbo leads the team after Frenchman Alain Perrin was shown the door following November’s 0-0 draw with Hong Kong which left China staring at elimination.
Elsewhere, former Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp will hope to inspire Jordan’s campaign as he begins a two-game stint with the Middle East team.
Al-Nashama (The Chivalrous) trail Australia by two points in Group B with two matches left, culminating in Tuesday’s clash with the Asian Cup-holder in Sydney.
Australia plays Tajikistan at home today before taking on Jordan, while Group A leader Saudi Arabia hosts struggling Malaysia this week.
Unfancied Thailand, the world No. 118, plays its final game against Iraq in neutral venue Tehran, Iran, today needing only a draw to take its place in the third round of qualifying.
Iran, which tops Group D, plays bottom side India, and Japan hosts Afghanistan before a showdown next week with war-wracked Syria, which trails the Blue Samurai by just a point in Group E.
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