China may win Asian Cup but must work hard: AFC president

Home>>Sports

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, January 16, 2004

China may win Asian Cup but must work hard: AFC president

Hosts China has opportunity to win this Asian Cup, but they must work very hard for it, a senior Asian soccer official said Thursday night in Chongqing.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Hosts China has opportunity to win this Asian Cup, but they must work very hard for it, a senior Asian soccer official said Thursday night in Chongqing.

Mohammed Bin Hamman, the president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), made the remarks at the 13th Asian Cup finals draw held here.

Hamman said, "China participated in the 2002 World Cup finals, and it is exactly a proof of the value of the Chinese soccer."

In the upcoming Asian Cup finals, China have many advantages as the hosts, so they are hopeful to be the champions, he said.

"However, there are many strong teams in this Asian Cup, such as Japan, South Korea and so on. Therefore, only by hard work and well preparations, China will win." he added.

China have competed in the Asian Cup finals for seven times and the best result was runner-up in Singapore in 1984.

Personally, Hamman considers Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran as the most favorites for this year's title.

In the previous 12 Asian Cup finals, Iran and Saudi Arabia lifted the cup three times, while South Korea and Japan were crowned twice. Israel and Kuwait won the trophy once respectively.

Following are the results of the draw:

Group A: China, Qatar, Indonesia, Bahrain

Group B: South Korea, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Jordan

Group C: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan

Group D: Japan, Iran, Thailand, Oman

Note: China, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Japan are seeds. Top two teams of each group will qualify for the quarterfinals.

Teams in the group A will play each other in Beijing, the capital of China, while the group B in Jinan, the group C in Chengdu and the group D in Chongqing.

In quarterfinals, the top team of the group A will face the second-placed side of the group C, while the runner-up of the group A against the winner of the group C, thus B1 vs D2, and B2 vs D1.

Questions?Comments? Click here

China provides best condition for Asian Cup: AFC president

Japan see Chongqing's humidity in their favor against Iran

Don't smile too early: Velapan warns China

Exploration rover "Spirit" lands safely on Mars ( 9 Messages)

Two major state banks to pilot joint-stock system ( 3 Messages)

China pondering its own "green card" system ( 16 Messages)

Roaring BMW: Was it "road rage" or an accident? ( 2 Messages)

Beijing's traffic no longer a headache by year 2008 ( 5 Messages)