PSV Eindhoven Edges China 1-0 at Soccer Friendly

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, May 20, 2002

PSV Eindhoven Edges China 1-0 at Soccer Friendly

China's national soccer team lost to the Netherlands' first division side PSV Eindhoven 1-0 in a World Cup warm-up match Sunday in Shanghai.

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PSV Eindhoven Edges China 1-0 at Soccer Friendly

China suffered its second straight loss at the pre-World Cup friendlies, losing 1-0 to the visiting PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands Sunday in Shanghai.

Adil Ramzi shot home the winning goal in the 11th minute by netting a rebound after a shot by John de Jong from the penalty box was parried out by goalkeeper Jiang Jin.

Chinese head coach Bora Milutinovic fielded first-choice players up front and in the midfield but placed three reserve defenders at the back, a move which took toll of the host.

Zhang Enhua appeared on the court as a replacement central defender for Fan Zhiyi, newly crowned Asian Footballer of the Year,who was injured in Thursday's 2-0 defeat to Uruguay.

But the weak point that Zhang was slow in turning was exposed when John de Jong danced past him easily to shoot before Ramzi picked up the rebound to score.

Though the defense was shaky, China had sharp attack up front as Eintracht Frankfurt striker Yang Chen paired with speedy Qu Bo to give PSV goalie Patrick Lodewijks a busy match.

Qu came closest to scoring only one minute into the match but his shot was stopped by the crossbar. Midfielder replacement Shao Jiayi unleashed a brilliantly-executed free kick only to see his shot graze past the goal.

In the 24th minute after the break, midfielder Zhao Junze had another clear scoring chance but his shot flied wide.

As PSV, runners-up of the Netherlands soccer league this season,got defense-minded in the second half, Chinese stepped up attack but did not convert the chances until the whistle.

"I think it's OK that we didn't score today, I hope we don't score against Portugal (in China's last friendly," said Milutinovic. "I hope we wait to score against Brazil or Turkey once we get to the World Cup."

PSV coach Eric Gerets admitted after the match that a 1-1 tie would have been a fairer result.

"In the second half, China played much better than we did. The only problem they had was scoring a goal, and they deserved to."

But PSV, which crushed Thailand 4-1 three days ago, came here with a second-rate line-up as the internationals from Russia, Denmark and Netherlands all missed the friendly.

After the warm-up match against PSV, China had a 1-1-2 record, including a scoreless draw with South Korea and a 3-1 victory over Thailand. They will take on the World Cup favorite Portugal in its last friendly ahead of the World Cup finals, to be run from May 31 and June 30 in South Korea and Japan.

China made its debut in the premier soccer tournament where they are grouped with Brazil, Costa Rica and Turkey.

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