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China Top World Cup Asian Zone Group 9 Final Standings
China finished the winner of Asian Zone Group 9 of the World Cup qualifiers after beating Indonesia 2- 0 in its final group match Sunday in Jakarta.
Xie Hui and Wu Chengying scored one goal each in the halves.
Chinese Coach Velibor Milutinovic told a post-game press conference that the Sunday's match was a good one. "It isn't important whether we scored two, three or four goals. The most important thing is that we secured the top spot and we go for the second round," he said.
Indonesia also performed well, he said.
It seemed that Indonesia was the toughest rival for China in this group, Milutinovic said. "That is why we only scored two goals. That is not because of our team didn't play well," he added.
Indonesia lost to China 5-1 on May 13 in Kunming, southwest China.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's Coach Benny Dollo said that he was satisfied with the game.
"We fully realized that Chinese players are better. Their skills are much better than ours," he said at the press conference.
Spokesman of the Indonesian National Football Association Eddy Ellison echoed Dollo's opinions, saying, "That is something which we have predicted before (that we would be beaten by China)," he told Xinhua.
"You know that China's players showed better skills and they are physically much better. Most of our players have been exhausted through their league competitions," he said.
China Beat Indonesia 2-0 to Qualify for Second RoundChina beat Indonesia 2-0 in a World Cup Asia Zone Group 9 qualifier Sunday in Jakarta to advance to the second phase.
Indonesia played defensive soccer before the enthusiastic home crowds despite China's five-goal advantage in the groups standings. However, China opened the scoring through Xie Hui, who plays for Aachen of Bundesliga second division, in the final minute of the first half when he headed home a loose ball during the confusion in front of the Indonesian goal.
China dominated the second half as the Indonesians got tired and Wu Chengying sealed the victory for them with a 25-meter volley in the 71st minute.
China collected 18 points from six wins to top Group 9, which also included Cambodia and Maldives. Indonesia placed second with 12 points, followed by Maldives and Cambodia with four points and one point respectively.
The top team in each of the 10 Asian groups advances to the final qualifying round with two or three of them making the 2002 World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan.
Other assured group winners are Oman, Iran, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
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