Counting on a final flourish

Despite being outranked in a tough group, the Chinese national team is refusing to give up on its dream of advancing to next year's FIFA World Cup.

With the final phase of Asian qualification kicking off next week, Team China is up against continental powers Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia in Group B, which also features minnows Oman and Vietnam.

Matches will take place in a home-and-away format, with two direct spots up for grabs for the 2022 finals in Qatar.

Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia all reached the 2018 World Cup in Russia, with the task of knocking two of them out of contention for Qatar 2022 appearing to be a tall order for Team China, who is outranked by the trio and possesses inferior head-to-head records against them.

However, head coach Li Tie points to his players' impressive form in the domestic league as reason to believe an upset is possible.

"You might seem much stronger than us, but that doesn't mean we don't stand a chance. This is how the game of soccer is played," Li said during a media conference on Sunday in Shanghai.

"One thing is for sure－we have to go all out with a mentality of going to war should we expect to produce any surprises in the qualifying tournament."

The third-place finishers in both groups will square off against each other for a spot in an intercontinental playoff, with the winner of that game earning a ticket to Qatar 2022.

Li has called up 33 players, including Espanyol striker Wu Lei, Brazilian-born naturalized forward Elkeson and veteran defender Zhang Linpeng, for the current training camp with the Chinese Super League season on pause.

The team will leave for Doha on Thursday to face Australia in its Group B opener on Sept 2 before meeting Japan－officially the away side－five days later at the same neutral venue.

Switching the matches to the Qatari capital was necessitated by the pandemic-related border controls being implemented in both Australia and China.

"We are facing not just strong opponents on the pitch but also the challenge of potentially staying abroad longer than expected to continue playing our future home games in Qatar," Li said.

"Anyway, we've been braced for whatever sacrifice that we have to make to try to accomplish something big."

China has qualified for the World Cup only once before, in 2002 when Japan and South Korea jointly hosted the marquee FIFA tournament. Li, a formidable midfielder in his prime, started in all three of his country's group losses back then.

Chasing Socceroos

With Japan ranked 24th in the world and boasting a squad with a healthy ratio of its players plying their trade in major European leagues, China reckons its chances of advancement could instead hinge on its matches against 35th-ranked Australia.

China's head-to-head record against the Socceroos (five wins, two draws and six losses) offers a measure of encouragement, and Li has urged his players to focus on the next game as if it was a final.

"The intensity and pace in the domestic league is nowhere near what we will encounter in the forthcoming qualifying games," said Li, who recently extended his contract with the Chinese Football Association until 2026.

"We will prepare for one match at a time and now we are only thinking of Australia (on Sept 2)."

China also hopes that the suspension of club competitions in Australia due to the pandemic could give it an advantage. In contrast, the Chinese players have been competing regularly and safely in the CSL's bubble.

The red-hot scoring streak of naturalized forward Elkeson, aka Ai Kesen, during the 2021 CSL campaign, suggests Li's team should not lack for sharpness in front of goal either.

"I've rediscovered my scoring instinct after training hard and returning to play in my favorite position (center forward)," Elkeson said through an interpreter during a China Central Television interview last week.

"I hope I can score more goals on national duty to pay back the fans," said the 32-year-old Brazil native, who has netted 11 goals and laid on three assists in 13 CSL games for Guangzhou FC this year.

Brazilian-born attackers Alan and Aloisio (aka Luo Guofu), and English-born defender Tyias Browning (aka Jiang Guangtai), all of Guangzhou, complete the contingent of naturalized players.

Homegrown striker Wu, however, arguably remains China's most potent threat.

The 29-year-old, who became the first Chinese to score in La Liga in March 2019, has been a prolific supplier and finisher of goals throughout the qualifying campaign, under both Li and his predecessor, Marcello Lippi.

Since Li took the helm in January 2020, Wu has contributed five goals and three assists to help China advance to the final phase.

"I feel like it's the best chance for our generation of players to try to realize our World Cup dreams," said Wu, who will join his teammates in Doha after flying out from Barcelona.

"We are all in our prime, with certain experiences playing through ups and downs on the national team. We are confident that we can make it through this time."

Although Espanyol starts have been hard to come by for Wu over the last year, he insists his game has come on leaps and bounds in Spain.

"Being able to survive in the competitive environment in the Spanish league and find my role on the team, I've grown more confident and comfortable handling the competition back in Asia," said Wu, who has featured up front in Espanyol's two La Liga matches this season, both 0-0 draws.

"Hopefully, I can maintain my momentum into the next stage of qualifiers for the national team."