China Given a Chance To Mend Their Dented Reputation

Posted Saturday, January 08, 2011 by english.cri.cn

China Given a Chance To Mend Their Dented Reputation
CRI Sports' Paul Ryding looks at China's chances at the Asian Cup which begins on Saturday in Qatar.

China have been disappointing in recent continential and regional
cometitions, but will see the Asian Cup as a chance to repair the battered relationship with their fans.

by CRI Sports' Paul Ryding

China had to stay at home to watch the fiesta of football in South Africa last year. In truth China missed out on World Cup qualification by a hefty margin, but it's still painful to know you're missing out on the best party in town.

China's players have been much-maligned in recent years. There dismal failure internationally has been compounded with some awful performances continentally and even regionally. They failed to progress from their group at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and were eliminated at the last-16 stage of the Asian Games in Guangzhou just two months ago.

The last time Chinese football fans had anything to cheer was in 2004 when their team finished runners-up in the Asian Cup they hosted. But even then it was bitter sweet, going down as they did to arch rivals Japan in the final.

China coach Gao Hongbao has been credited with the national team making steady progress since he took the hot seat almost two years ago. And the 2011 Asian Cup represents another chapter in the Gao-led renaissance of Chinese football.

For the tournament in Qatar, Gao is blooding a new set of youngsters using the continental championship as an opportunity to introduce some of the country's brightest youngsters to the international scene.

Having overseen a jump in the FIFA rankings of six places up to 87 after an extended period of decline, soccer fans in China are confident that they could go well in Qatar. This feeling has been compounded by some impressive results in the run-up to this year's Asian Cup. Most recently, China's new look team defeated defending champions Iraq 3-2. And before that they enjoyed impressive wins against Macedonia, Estonia and Latvia.

This time round they are thought to have been gifted a relatively easy path to the later stages of the competition, drawing the easiest of the top seeds in Qatar, and arguably the softest of the second seeds in sleeping giants Uzbekistan.

Chinese fans will be reluctant to get their hopes up too much given how they've been let down previously, but the team will be eager to finally give their huge number of fans something to cheers about.