China coach: We haven't given up on World Cup
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-12 14:31

BEIJING - China have not given up hope of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup despite languishing at the bottom of Group One, coach Ratomir Dujkovic said on Wednesday.

China, who meet Iraq in a must-win qualifier on Saturday, are a point adrift of the Asian champions after last weekend's 1-0 defeat to Qatar.


Qatar's Bilal Mohammed (R) fights for the ball with China's Gao Lin during their World Cup qualifying soccer match in Tianjin June 7, 2008. [Agencies]

Both teams need a win at Tianjin's Olympic stadium if they are to have any hope of overhauling Qatar and Australia for the qualifying spots.

"For China, to fight for three points is our only choice. Only if we manage to do this we can play the decisive battle against Australia," Dujkovic told reporters after training.

Australia lost 1-0 to Iraq last weekend but still share the group lead with Qatar. The Socceroos are China's final opponents on June 22.

Serb Dujkovic described the Qatar defeat as "unacceptable" but said he had been encouraged by the reaction of his players.

"I found the players were talking about the qualifying situation within our group and I smiled," he told Titan Sports newspaper. "It is a positive signal that they hadn't given up.

"For the next match I hope everybody keeps the faith. In a group of four teams, a single match can change all situations."

Playmaker Zheng Zhi has been struggling with injury but should be fit to captain China while Sun Jihai, Li Weifeng and Liu Jian are all suspended.