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China Draw Qatar 1-1 in World Cup Qualifier
China Draw Qatar 1-1 in World Cup Qualifier
Defender Li Weifeng drove in a header to salvage a precious 1-1 draw with Qatar in an Asian World Cup qualifier Friday in Doha.
Li prevented the Qatari players from spoiling the 57th birthday of Bora Milutinovic, China's head coach, when he headed in the equalizer on a free-kick pass from playmaker Qi Hong in the 89th minute.
Milutinovic was very happy with the lucky draw. "Before the game, my players promised to give me a good birthday gift. They showed a strong mentality and I am satisfied with their performance in an exciting game. "
The Serb sent a warning to his opponents. "I hope we can play the following five games like this one and maintain our winning momentum," he said.
China Draw Qatar 1-1 in World Cup Qualifier
Mohamed Enazi put Qatar 1-0 ahead in the 30th minute when he deflected a Dahi Naemi's long shot into the net.
Qatar threatened again three minutes later when Mohamed Blooshi rattled the bar with a powerful shot. In the 39th minute, Goalkeeper Jiang Jin helped China survive another scare as he thwarted Enazi's solo run by blocking out the Qatari top striker's dangerous shot.
Qatar head coach Jamal Haji seemed disappointed after seeing a win slip away in the last minutes. "A mistake costs us two points and China is lucky to draw. We missed a couple of chances and I am disappointed. But this is football.
"We tried to stop China's No. 8 (Li Tie), No. 9 (Ma Mingyu) and No. 19 (Qi Hong), and they are all good players. But they waited 90 minutes to punish us. If you make a mistake, I will punish you," he said.
Qatar, who never lost to China in World Cup qualifiers, played a tightly marking game, giving China no chance to take advantage of their speed. And the visitors, who won their first two games, were forced to launch their attacks mainly on long balls, which were always intercepted by the hosts.
In the 54th minute, striker Xie Hui came close to scoring the equalizer for China with an angled shot which flew just wide of the left goal post.
China's disappointing striking pair Xie Hui and Qu Bo were taken off by another pair of Su Maozhen and Yu Genwei in the 63th minute. Milutinovic seemed rather anxious and constantly waved his players to forge ahead.
In the 70th minute, playmaker Qi Hong buoyed up China's morale with a powerful long shot, which hit the bar. And from then on China turned the table around, waging waves upon waves of attacks, which were finally capped by Li Weifeng's header.
With this draw China leads Group B with 7 points, followed by Qatar with 5 points. The Asian World Cup qualifiers are undergoing in two groups, the top finishers of which will qualify for the finals automatically. And the better second-finisher is to play off against a team from Europe for an extra berth.
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