China slumps but makes Asian Cup
Print Edition
China survived an almighty scare before scraping into next year’s Asian Cup on goal difference thanks to a late penalty in its 1-3 defeat to Iraq yesterday.
The perennial under-achiever looked set to miss out on reaching an 11th successive Asian Cup as it went three goals down and rival Lebanon plundered a fifth goal against Thailand in Group B.
As they stood, China was 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 that took China to the 2015 tournament in Australia.
The dramatic turn of events, played out within minutes of each other but thousands of kilometers 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 champion Iraq was left to celebrate leap-frogging the visitors into Group C’s second automatic qualifying spot thanks to two goals from 2007 hero Younis Mahmoud.
Scored the winner
Mahmoud, who scored the winner in Iraq’s 1-0 Asian Cup final win against Saudi Arabia seven years ago, struck twice in the first half before Ali Adnan netted its third after the break.
The second automatic berth in Group C and the spot for the best third-placed team were the only ones up for grabs as qualifying for the finals in Australia next year wrapped up yesterday, with 13 teams already locked in.
Malaysia beat Yemen 2-1 away in Group D but its faint hopes of qualifying as the best third-placed team were ended by the victories for Iraq and Lebanon.
China’s Hong Kong and Syria also had their flickering ambitions extinguished when both lost; the former 1-3 to Vietnam and the latter 1-2 to Jordan.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Manchester United bench-warmer Shinji Kagawa scored his first international goal for six months in a message to his boss David Moyes, as Japan beat New Zealand 4-2 in a friendly yesterday.
A total of four goals in the first 17 minutes, including a brace from Mainz striker Shinji Okazaki, sealed victory for the Blue Samurai in their last international match before coach Alberto Zaccheroni selects his 23-strong squad in early May for the World Cup in Brazil.
Leicester City striker Chris Wood scored twice to save the All Whites’ blushes.
Kagawa has only played in nine of United’s 27 English Premier League matches this season under Moyes without scoring or assisting a goal.
He was clipped down when he took a cross from new AC Milan signing Keisuke Honda and dribbled into the area in the seventh minute.
The 24-year-old attacking midfielder jumped for joy after sinking a shot from the penalty spot past goalkeeper Glen Moss for Japan’s second goal of the night.
“No matter if it was a penalty kick or not, I felt happy because a goal is a goal,” Kagawa told reporters after the game before a sell-out crowd of 48,000 at the National Stadium.
It was Kagawa’s first goal for his country since the 3-1 friendly win over Ghana at home in September last year.
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