Woeful China hits rock bottom

Captain Maksim Shatskikh blasted in a rebound from his own header on 72 minutes before Timur Kapadze capitalised on an error from stand-in 'keeper Yang Jun.

Substitute striker Alexander Geynrikh finished from another rebound in injury time to keep China out of the knock-out stages for the first time since 1980.

The result means Uzbekistan finish second in Group C behind Iran and will face Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals.

But it is likely to mean the sack for embattled coach Zhu Guanghu, who has failed to reproduce the form that took China to the 2004 final.

"I'm sorry we failed to get through. Today our fitness wasn't too good and we had several key players absent but my team did their best," said a distraught Zhu.

"I'm responsible for the result and I apologise to the fans. I hope the players will learn from this. This is a good lesson for the future."

China, giving a first start to Manchester United forward Dong Fangzhuo, edged a tepid first half played in damp conditions at the cavernous - and nearly empty - Shah Alam Stadium.

Bundesliga midfielder Shao Jiayi put a reaction shot wide on three minutes and then warmed goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov's hands with a 35-yard free-kick on 20 minutes.

But with China's attack failing to fire Zhu withdrew left winger Mao Jianqing for the dangerous Wang Dong on 40 minutes.

Uzbek refused to throw players forward in a cautious start but Server Djeparov almost had a shot deflected in on 15 minutes and curled another effort at Yang Jun, deputizing for the injured Li Leilei, just before half-time.

Dynamo Kiev striker Shatskikh had a shot blocked on 34 minutes and another saved as Uzbekistan was mainly restricted to half-chances and shots from distance.

But Uzbekistan brought on Geynrikh at half-time followed by Victor Karpenko and the double switch made the difference as Shatskikh shaved the upright with a sizzling shot on 64 minutes.

Djeparov saw a shot saved before Karpenko hoisted a 40-yard free-kick on to Shatskikh's head, forcing a diving save from Yang before the forward finished with aplomb.

Wang had been desperately unlucky to rattle the bar when he met Zhang Shuai's cut-back first time and Shao Jiayi twice troubled Nesterov in China's best moments.

China's woes were compounded by a worrying injury to striker Han Peng, who was stretchered off in the dying moments.

As Han left the field, Geynrikh collected the rebound from his own free-kick and lashed the ball past Yang to complete China's humiliation.

China was runner-up in 2004 when they lost a controversial final to Japan. But it has slipped to 76 in the rankings and Zhu entered the tournament under orders to reach the semifinals "or else."

Uzbekistan was quarterfinalist at the last tournament, when it was ousted on penalties by Bahrain. The former Soviet republic's finest moment was winning the Asian Games title on debut in 1994.

In Jakarta, South Korea scraped into the quarterfinals with a fraught 1-0 win over Indonesia in its final Group D game. The victory, coupled with Saudi Arabia's 4-0 hammering of Bahrain, sent the 2002 World Cup semifinalist into last eight after going into the last round of matches bottom of the standings.

Kim Jung-woo scored the priceless goal for South Korea but they were made to sweat in a torrid second half as Indonesia threw everything into attack.

"We spoke to the players before the game and told them that every game from now on would be like a final," Korea coach Pim Verbeek told reporters.

"I'm happy. We were in control and we're ready for the next round."

AFP

(China Daily 07/19/2007 page24)