China won't sack coach after Asian Cup exit
Posted Monday, January 17, 2011 by chinadaily.com
Head coach Gao Hongbo, who insisted it was unfair that Liu Jianye's jumping receiving against Uzbek forward Alexander Geynrikh resulted in a free kick, was sent off in the 88th minute for protesting the referee.
"I won't judge the chief referee and the fourth official," said Cao. "Everybody who watched the game knew what really happened. It's not necessary for us to say anything."
The team leader kept upbeat despite their Asian Cup journey ended in a disappointing way, saying the team learned a lot from the campaign.
"We see progress and hopes through the young squad and we believe that the Asian Cup experience would help the team play a better World Cup 2014 qualifying tourney," he said.
"The main task that the Chinese soccer governing body handed to the team is to make the young players more experienced, and we thought they reached the goal.
"Of course there're a lot we have to think about before the team heads forward, but there's no way we sack our head coach or any of the national team's coaching staff," he emphasized.
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