Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, May 15, 2002
Full-Strength China to Host Uruguay at Pre-World Cup Friendly
With the return of Europe-based players, China is expected to field a full- strength squad at Thursday's friendly match against Uruguay at Shenyang, northeast of China.
With the return of Europe-based players, China is expected to field a full- strength squad at Thursday's friendly match against Uruguay at Shenyang, northeast of China.
Those who have been recalled back include top striker Yang Chen of Germany club Eintracht Frankfurt and defender Sun Jihai, who plays at Manchester City of England. Midfielder Yu Genwei, who is nursing knee injury at Belgium, will join the squad at Shenyang.
The national side arrived at the northeastern city on Tuesday after concluding its two-week training session at Kunming, southwest of China.
Yu's return will complete the full 25-man roster which head coach Bora Milutinovic has picked for the training camp.
Milutinovic is likely to field a defense-minded line-up in the match against Uruguay, another World Cup finalist, as defense has been his top priority during the two-week training here.
Besides the Uruguay friendly, China will also test their defense in the other two pre-World Cup warm-ups against Portugal national team and PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands.
The World Cup finals, which runs from May 31 to June 30, will be co-hosted by South Korea and Japan. China make its debut at the premier soccer tournament.