China Coach Proud of Players' Effort, Despite 4-0 Loss to Brazil

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, June 09, 2002

China Coach Proud of Players' Effort, Despite 4-0 Loss to Brazil

When is a 4-0 loss not regarded as a major defeat? The answer is simple: when you are China playing heavily favored Brazil in the World Cup finals.

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Brazil Rout China 4-0

When is a 4-0 loss not regarded as a major defeat? The answer is simple: when you are China playing heavily favored Brazil in the World Cup finals.

For that reason, China's Serbian coach Bora Milutinovic was pleased despite the four-time champions having crushed China's hopes of reaching the second round in its first appearance on soccer's biggest stage.

"On the contrary, I'm proud of them," Milutinovic said.

Milutinovic said he had hoped to avoid the embarrassment of a lopsided defeat, but noted the gulf in quality was too much to prevent the Brazilians from scoring four goals in the first hour.

Roberto Carlos scored on a free kick in the 15th minute, followed by Rivaldo in the 32nd, Ronaldinho in the 45th from the penalty spot and Ronaldo in the 55th.

China's problems were compounded by the fact that its star defenders, Fan Zhiyi of Dundee and Sun Jihai of Manchester City, both missed the historic match. The two men are recovering from injuries sustained in the opening game against Costa Rica, which China lost 2-0.

China faces Turkey on Thursday in its final match in Group C.

Playing against the world's best players, the Chinese put up a brave fight, attacking and creating several scoring chances. These included a shot by Zhao Junshe that hit the post in the 61st minute.

"I'm very happy how they performed," Milutinovic said. "They made a huge effort, I can't ask for more than that. You have to remember who they were playing against."

China is the lowest ranked of all the teams in the World Cup at No. 57. In contrast, Brazil is No. 2 in FIFA's rankings and is considered one of the favorites to win another title.

Even some Brazilians were impressed by the determination shown by the Chinese players.

"They are a good side," Brazilian midfielder Juninho Paulista said after the match. "Even after 4-0 they still kept going, still tried to score, still tried to mark Brazilian players."

The squad is the fifth national team Milutinovic has taken to the World Cup since 1986. All the previous teams - Mexico in 1986, Costa Rica in '90, the United States in '94 and Nigeria in '98 - made it into the second round.

China will come up short.

Teams he has coached have played Brazil on seven occasions. The last time he faced Brazil - with Mexico in 1996 - his side won 2-0.

Milutinovic said he pleased by the performance of some of his youngest players, who will form the backbone of the Chinese national team over the next decade.

Following three substitutions, only one Chinese player on the field at the end of the match was older than 27, and he happened to be goalkeeper Jiang Jin.

This was Milutinovic's 19th World Cup match. Only Helmut Schoen, who led West Germany in 25 World Cup matches between 1966 and 1978, has coached more.

Source from China Daily

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