China to Field Fresh Faces in "War of Vengeance"

China's head coach Bora Milutinovic said Friday in Shenyang that he will give more chances to the rookies rather than veterans in a "war of vengeance" against Qatar.

As China have earned their first ever berth for the World Cup finals earlier this month, Milutinovic took their next World Cup qualifier against Qatar as a warmup for the finals instead of a " war of vengeance".

"In soccer, there are only matches and no war of vengeance," said the Serb, who is now basking in approval and praise after helping China qualify for the World Cup finals.

In the match to be played here on Saturday, Milutinovic will probably put midfielder Qu Bo, central defender Du Wei and goalkeeper An Qi in his starting line-up while resting veteran Fan Zhiyi and Li Xiaopeng.

Chinese soccer media dubbed the match "war of vengeance" and asked their team to thrash Qatar, who beat China 3-2 away in an World Cup qualifier in 1997. The loss directly led to fiasco of China's consecutive sixth attempt for the finals.

People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/