China Beats Indonesia 5-1 in World Cup Qualifier


China Beats Indonesia 5-1 in World Cup Qualifier
China camback strongly to beat Indonesia 5-1 Sunday in a group nine qualifier of the World Cup Asian zone tournament before a packed home crowd of 50, 000 at the Tuodong Stadium in Kunming, capital city of Yunnan Province.

With the victory, China is leading the group with nine points, followed by Indonesia, Cambodia and Maldive. Only the group leader qualifies for the next round.

"I am very glad that our team played a brilliant second half," said Bora Milutinovic, head coach of the Chinese team at the press conference.

Benny Dolo, head coach of the Indonesian team, said in the first half his team had an upper hand and showed his players had made big progress. "The Chinese team is obviously stronger than our team, but they looked not as good as we expected in the opening 45 minutes." The home team had a terrible first half, dominating the field completely, but it was the lowly Indonesia who opened the scoring in the 40th minute.

Striker Kurniawan Yulianto received a low corner from the right in the middle of the box and blasted a sizzling goal into the Chinese gate.

The Chinese bombed the Indonesia's goal gate waves after waves, forcing eight corners in the first half, but they couldn't penetrate into their opponent's tight defence.

After the break, the Chinese team, which had beaten the Indonesians 4-0 at the Asian Cup last October, used their height advantage to launch many air attacks. Their efforts paid off quickly when Li Weifeng touched a loose ball to level the score in the 50th minute.

Nine minutes later, Yang Chen put the Chinese team 2-1 when he caught a left corner with a header.

Xie Hui added another goal for China 10 minutes later when his close shot deflected an Indonesian defender's leg.

In the 79th minute, Qi Hong received a lob cross from Xie Hui and netted it home. Xie Hui wound up China's shooting spree in the dying minute with another header.

China shot the goal 25 times and made 13 corners, while Indonesia only had five chances to threaten the Chinese goal and one corner.

China will play against Cambodia in Guangzhou on May 20.

Lineup in Indonesia Game

Following is the Chinese lineup in a group nine match against Indonesia in the World Cup Asian zone tournament:

Coach: Bora Milutinovic

Goalkeeper: Jiang Jin

Defender: Xu Yunlong, Fan Zhiyi, Li Weifeng, Wu Chengying

Midfielder: Li Ming, Li Tie, Ma Mingyu, Shen Si

Forward: Yang Chen, Xie Hui

Indonesia team

Coach: Dolo Benny

Goalkeeper: Kartiko Hendro, Adnyana Ikomang, Kurniawan Achmad

Defender: Purdjianto Eko, Sugiyantoro, Warsidi, Ronny, Tecuari Aples, Sofyan Ismed, Yobudi Agong, Sunar Solaeman, Fxiba Erol, Supriyond

Midfielder: Riyadi Jaris, Ali Isnan, Aiboy Elie, Maman, Sakti Bima, Nawawi Uston, Nordiyantara Matheus, Utina Firman

Forward: Yulianto Kurniawan, Sudarsono Budi, Pamungkas Bambang, Christiawan Gendut






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