Chinese players should be primed to avoid upset in World Cup qualifiers, says goalkeeping coach

BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese players should be taught not to take things for granted when facing the supposedly weak teams in their FIFA World Cup qualification, team China goalkeeping coach Ou Chuliang said.

China on Thursday was drawn against Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Oman in Asia's final round of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar -- all teams China cannot afford to underestimate, according to Ou.

"Every game will be crucial and important. We in the past suffered many upsets at the hands of those whom we thought were weak opponents," said Ou, who was the China's goalkeeper in the 1990s.

"We should take every game as the most important, this is what we learned from the past," said the 52-year-old.

"This is also the message that we should pass to our players. I think the head coach (Li Tie) should hold the same view as mine," he added.