Qatar defender Ibrahim Majed (top) jumps over China midfielder Deng Zhuoxiang to head the ball during their Asian Cup Group A match at Khalifa Stadium in Doha on Wednesday. Qatar won 2-0. Karim Jaafar / Agence France-Presse

Pressure now falls on young China coach to lift his side into final eight

DOHA - A stunning 2-0 victory over China on Wednesday has reignited Qatar's hopes of entering the knockout stage of the Asian Cup on home soil while coaching pressure passed from Qatar's Bruno Metsu to his Chinese counterpart, Gao Hongbo.

"The win is a good message for our people, and the fans are very satisfied." said the side's French coach Metsu, whose team was under huge pressure after its opening game loss to Uzbekistan.

"The fans pushed the team, that's important. It's fantastic to have people support our team and overcome the pressure of the last game."

Qatar's 22-year-old striker, Yusef Ahmed, ripped apart China's defence in the first half with two spectacular goals and left the frustrated Chinese to place their hopes in a last-game victory over Uzbekistan, which has won both of its games, for a berth in the last eight.

"The players have shown their form and what they are able to do. I am very proud of their performance, which was strong," Metsu said.

"We will try to do the same in the match with Kuwait to take three points and qualify for the next stage."

While Metsu felt obvious relief, Gao was widely criticized for altering his starting lineup and early substitutions.

Though he performed steadily in the first game, Chinese goalkeeper Yang Zhi was replaced by Zeng Cheng for the clash with Qatar.

The 23-year-old Zeng's appointment was questioned after the game due to his lack of experience in big tournaments.

Gao was also blamed of using up all three substitutions before the 60th minute, which forced the Chinese side to struggle with 10 players in the last 15 minutes when defender Zhao Peng stumbled off of the pitch after an injury in the 75th minute.

The 44-year-old coach shrugged off the criticism and said the result boiled down to bad luck.

"As I can recall, Qatar only had four shots within range of goal and we had three," he said. "Qatar scored two goals, but we finished with zero. Sometimes, luck really plays a big role in football matches.

"Each game with a different opponent is a great chance for us to accumulate experience and examine our formations and strategy," Gao said.

"It's common to see players get injured in matches but, unluckily, we had to change our strategy after losing a player ."

When asked about Zeng's presence in the starting lineup, Gao said even Italy's great keeper, Gianluigi Buffon, would have been unable to save the host's two remarkable goals.

"I am satisfied with Zeng's performance today," he said.

"When we prepared for this Asian Cup, we decided to give more players the opportunity to play in the tournament, including the goalkeepers."

"All the Chinese players are at the same level and they have to face a real test in this tournament," Gao said.

China's loss has made the situation in Group A complex as all four teams still have the chance to move on to the next round. China and Qatar will meet Uzbekistan and Kuwait respectively on Sunday.

China Daily

(China Daily 01/14/2011 page24)