Perrin warns of major changes ahead of Asian Cup
Print Edition
New manager Alain Perrin warned China to expect changes and hard work ahead of next year’s Asian Cup after it came perilously close to missing out on a place in the competition.
China had been expected to go through with ease in Wednesday’s final qualifiers but in the event, it needed a late penalty from Zhang Xizhe to scramble home on goal difference.
The 1-3 defeat to Iraq made for a chastening start for the newly hired Perrin, whose team barely avoided missing out on the Asian Cup for the first time since the 1970s.
China grabbed the final qualifying spot for the best third-placed team by a whisker as rival Lebanon beat Thailand 5-2 to overcome a deficit of three points and finish just one goal behind on goal difference.
Perrin said China was so distracted by events elsewhere on a frenetic final night of qualifying that it was as if it was playing the match in Sharjah “with two souls”.
“The first one was on the pitch and the second was outside it as we were monitoring the other results of the other matches in order to see if we can finish as the best third-placed team in the qualifiers, and this is what happened,” said the Frenchman, according to the Asian Football Confederation website.
“Iraq controlled the first half and they scored two goals while we were the better side in the second period, we pulled a goal back and could have scored more. We must now work more and do some changes for a better future.”
Perrin, who replaced the axed Jose Antonio Camacho, now has nearly a year to improve a national team which still struggles to impress, despite China’s growing clout at club level after Guangzhou Evergrande won last year’s AFC Champions League.
China, which won only two of its six qualifiers, will have its work cut out at next year’s tournament in Australia with stiff competition in the form of the host, defending champion Japan, South Korea and Iran.
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