China's coach Gao Hongbo controls the ball during their 2011 Asian Cup Group A soccer match against Kuwait at Al Gharafa stadium in Doha January 8, 2011. REUTERS

After failing to deliver at the Asian Cup, under-pressure men's soccer coach Gao Hongbo faces bigger challenges in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Tang Zhe reports.

The honeymoon is over for China's national soccer coach, Gao Hongbo. The 45-year-old mentor, who was hailed as a hero after winning the East Asian Soccer Championship last winter, fell back to earth after his side failed to qualify for the knockout round of the Asian Cup in Qatar this year.

Under growing pressure, his side will assemble for warm-up matches against New Zealand and Colombia next month in preparation for the 2014 World Cup Asian Zone qualifiers.

The long-time underachiever has only made the World Cup once - in 2002 when the event was held in Japan and South Korea - and is still struggling to catch up to the top teams in the region.

Gao failed to deliver the desired results at the Asian Cup and refused interview requests after the team was eliminated.

Only after attending a meeting of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) in late January did the coach admit he had made some mistakes at the Asian Cup.

"Though we hoped to use the Asian Cup to prepare for the 2014 World Cup preliminaries, we should have shown our best at the tournament considering we were representing the country in such a big event," said Gao, who was sent to the stands during China's last group match against Uzbekistan and will miss the country's first World Cup preliminary as further punishment.

"The CFA chiefs have emphasized that it's not necessary to focus on the team's failings from time to time, instead we should make full use of our advantages to boost the team's fighting spirit," he said.

Tough road ahead

Last February, China defeated archrival South Korea for the first time in 32 years en route to the East Asian Championship title.

This year has, so far, turned out to be a different story. While China's East Asian counterpart Japan celebrated its fourth Asian Cup victory by defeating the Socceroos 1-0 in the final, China had to watch the final matches at home. South Korea, who took the third place at the expense of Uzbekistan, also shone in the region's most prestigious tournament with a vigorous, young generation of players.

Gao was expected to lose his job due to some poor strategy during the tournament and the team's inability to get past the group stage.

However, CFA chief Wei Di said the governing body would stick with Gao, who has overseen the country's rise up the FIFA World Rankings from 100 to 75. Still, the CFA is seeking a foreign technical adviser to assist Gao during the World Cup qualifiers.

The CFA's search has dimmed the prospects of Dutchman Arie Schans, who has spent several months on the coaching team as Gao's personal assistant.

The proposed move has also cast doubts about Gao's status with the team.

However, CFA Deputy Chief Yu Hongchen insists the adviser will be selected to boost the team's performance in World Cup qualifiers, which start in June, and the head coach will have the final word.

"The adviser's duty is to help Gao perfect his work and not replace him," Yu told China's Soccer News. "We will communicate with the coach and find the most suitable candidate according to our current situation."

(China Daily 02/15/2011 page23)