China grits teeth for Cup mission

Li Tie's men steeled for crunch clashes in Suzhou as qualifying hopes hang by a thread

There's no denying the odds are stacked against Team China as it attempts to revive its slim World Cup qualification hopes. However, fans have been assured that, even if Li Tie's men come up short in their upcoming mission, it certainly won't be for a lack of effort in their preparations.

"First of all, I believe we have the ability to qualify for the next stage of World Cup qualifying. It's our responsibility to shoulder," Chinese Football Association (CFA) president Chen Xuyuan told Xinhua. "And in terms of the preparation, for over a year, we've been fighting for the same goal.

"I believe the coaching team have learned from the mistakes we made before and the experience of past victories. I have high expectations and confidence that Team China will produce good performances in the coming World Cup qualifiers."

Team China, which has been training together since mid-May, kicks off its four-game Asian zone Group A finale against Guam on this Sunday before taking on the Maldives on Thursday, June 3. After a brief rest, Li's men face stronger opposition in the form of the Philippines, on June 9, and group leader Syria on June 15.

Despite enjoying home advantage in Suzhou, Jiangsu province for all those games, Team China's chances of reaching the next phase of qualification hang in the balance.

China is eight points adrift of first-place Syria and only leads third-place Philippines on goal difference. The eight group winners and four best second-place finishers will enter the next phase of qualifying.

"Li Tie is a very responsible and motivated head coach with a good overall vision of the situation. Since he was appointed national team head coach, we can see many changes," Chen added.

"He is really thorough, reviewing match videos of every friendly match and training session so he can evaluate players and tell them how to improve.

"The second positive change is that he has instilled a better mentality in the players, always reassuring them of their ability and telling them to have confidence. That's very important. He also invites experts to offer psychological counseling to the squad.

"But preparing for the qualifiers has not just been a job for the players. It's a combined effort by the Chinese Football Association and the entire coaching team. Li Tie knows the importance of team work and takes advantage of the knowledge of our entire team. All these changes are the reasons why I'm confident in Team China's performances in the qualifiers."

China remains unbeaten in friendlies against Chinese Super League teams since Li took over the team in early 2020, but the 44-year-old former Everton midfielder has still yet to be tested in an official international match due to the disruption to the schedule caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Li is well aware of the sizable task ahead, and has attempted to bolster his squad with the inclusion of five naturalized players and the recall of Spain-based striker Wu Lei.

Among the naturalized contingent, Brazil-born forwards Ai Kesen (aka Elkeson) and former England youth international Li Ke (aka Nico Yennaris) have played for Team China in the previous qualifiers in 2019, under Li Tie's predecessor, Italian World Cup winner Marcello Lippi. However, Brazil-born strikers Alan, Fei Nanduo (aka Fernandinho) and England-born defender Jiang Guangtai (aka Tyias Browning) are in line to make their debuts in the campaign.

According to Xinhua, Wu joined Team China's training camp last Wednesday, just a day after landing in Shanghai from Barcelona. Wu was allowed to forego the regular 14-day medical quarantine after abiding by strict epidemic prevention measures throughout his journey from Europe.

"For the country, and for the family," Wu posted on Weibo, accompanied by a picture of himself with his daughter in an airport before setting off for China.

As China's brightest homegrown star, Wu was a notable absentee from Li's previous six training camps due to his club commitments in Spain and pandemic travel restrictions. He has been largely confined to the bench during a season in which his club, Espanyol, earned promotion back to La Liga.

The 29-year-old's lack of minutes in Spain's second tier has led to concerns over his sharpness and ability to quickly gel with the new naturalized additions to the squad.

So despite thrashing Guam 7-0 in the teams' last encounter in 2019, Li Tie isn't taking the May 30 game lightly.

"Since Li Tie took over the national team, all the core players haven't been able to train together at any of the previous training camps, meaning the coach still has to imbed his tactical philosophy. We need to get our starting XI in sync for the first match. Time is of the essence," said Chen, who told Xinhua that the CFA will pay the players a 12 million yuan ($2 million) bonus should they qualify for the next phase.

"Also the Chinese Super League started over a month ago and the players have been through the lockdown since then. The players' physical and mental condition must surely be affected."

Still, many observers insist now is not the time to focus on the negatives.

"The Chinese side has everything in order and the players are also in high spirits. Teams like Guam, the Philippines, the Maldives and Syria are not supposed to be the true rivals of Team China," retired Chinese international Fan Zhiyi, who captained the national squad at the 2002 World Cup finals, told media.

"The key is to win the remaining four matches before thinking about the next stage of qualification. We have home advantage so I don't think there will be a big problem.

"I think the Chinese team needs to prioritize the tasks at hand and be aware that their strongest rival is Syria."

shifutian@chinadaily.com.cn