China Victory Already in the Bag

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, May 28, 2002

China Victory Already in the Bag - Now to Win Pride

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China Team Under Training

China may have already bagged their victory by qualifying for the World Cup for the first time but national pride is still on the line for the inexperienced side that began a second day of training in South Korea on Monday.

Some 25,000 Chinese fans are expected to travel to South Korea to watch China's first round games against Costa Rica, Brazil and Turkey in group C, many of them paying more than an average year's income for a one-match package.

Hundreds of millions more will be glued to television sets from the teeming megalopoles of Beijing and Shanghai to the plateaux and deserts of Tibet and Xinjiang.

For them, China's World Cup appearance represents a giant step in the nation's relentless quest for superpower status after decades of political instability and economic backwardness.

For the rest of the world, especially soccer clubs and multinational corporations, it gives a taste of the enormous talent pool and marketing potential for football in the world's most populous nation.

It is an enormous burden to place on the shoulders of the nervous young squad who arrived at their training camp in the city of Sogwipo on Sunday.

Earlier media reports said the team arrived "looking tired" after their 2-0 defeat by Portugal in a warm-up match in the former Portuguese colony of Macau on Saturday.

China has tried to play down expectations after lacklustre performances in recent friendlies -- they beat Thailand 3-1, drew 0-0 with South Korea but lost 2-0 to Uruguay and 1-0 to Dutch club PSV Eindhoven.

"You cannot deny, we are a new team in the World Cup and a weak one," the team said in an open letter to China's 80 million-odd soccer fans posted on the Internet.

"Our lack of experience and ability have determined that we won't be able to go far," they said.

Defeatist tone

Some Chinese fans have praised the team for their pragmatic approach while others scorned their defeatist tone.

But the letter has done little to dampen hopes at home that China can defy the odds and make it to the second round.

Chinese fans are banking on Serbian coach Bora Milutinovic, who has guided four national teams into the second round of the World Cup -- Mexico, Costa Rica, the United States and Nigeria.

Known in Mandarin simply as "Milu", the Serbian has become the best loved and most recognised foreigner in China since they qualified for the World Cup in October last year.

Milutinovic himself has flip-flopped between urging China to be realistic and hinting at the potential for an upset.

He has said China had a chance of reaching the second round on points if they beat Costa Rica, lost to Brazil and held Turkey to a draw.

China has also been encouraged by the recovery of several top players after a string of injuries in the last two months.

Defensive lynchpin Fan Zhiyi, recently transferred to Dundee from Crystal Palace, was ready to start training again after picking up an ankle injury against PSV Eindhoven.

China's goalkeeping coach Xu Tao, who was admitted to hospital last week after contracting hepatitis, was also hoping to be able to come to South Korea by June 3.

China play Costa Rica in Kwangju on June 4, Brazil in Sogwipo on June 8 and Turkey in Seoul on June 13.

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