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China Closer to World Cup Finals Debut
China took a firm step towards their first appearance in the World Cup finals when they nipped the United Arab Emirates 1-0 on Thursday for an unbeaten record in the Asian Zone Group B qualifying tournament.
Midfielder Qi Hong headed home the lone goal of the match in the 42nd before China held off a late UAE surge for the narrow victory, which raised their tally to 13 points from five matches.
China should only need a seemingly-locked home victory against bottom placers Oman on October 7 to secure the long-desired World Cup berth if the nearest challengers Qatar, with 8 points and three matches to play, fail to collect a win over Uzbekistan (6) on Friday.
However, Qi, China's leading scorer with three goals in five matches, received his second yellow card of the tournament Thursday and will miss the clash at Shenyang in 10 days' time.
The emirates, who gained seven points from six games, saw their hope of winning the group and direct qualification almost demolished after the defeat. With only two matches in hand, they would actually vie for a runner-up finish in the group for a play- off place.
Just when the first half looked like finishing a blank sheet, Qi, who scored China's first goal in the five-squad Group B in their opening 3-0 win over the UAE on August 25, emerged unmarked in the area and made no mistake to head in the perfect pass from defender Sun Jihai.
The UAE went all out for an equalizer in the second half and their best chances came with five minutes left in the game. However, Salim Saad's 30-meter volley hit the bar before Saeed Al Kaas put the rebounder high.
Kaas had another opportunity to earn the hosts one point shortly after but his header ended high again.
China's coach Bora Milutinovic admitted his side was lucky to win and he tried to keep their players clear-headed.
"We were lucky to win today. Now we have very good chances of qualifying for the World Cup but the fact is that we haven't yet qualified.
"We have to keep working hard till we achieve our goal."
The Yugoslav is also aiming to become the first man to lead five different countries in World Cup finals. He coached Mexico in 1986, Costa Rica in 1990, the United States in 1994 and Nigeria in 1998.
The winners of the two Asian qualifying groups go through to next year's World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan. The two runners-up play off for the chance of another play-off against a European team. The winners of that match also qualify for the finals.
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