China starts first training in Doha as Wu Lei returns to team

DOHA, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's national team welcomed back its star forward Wu Lei in its first training session in Doha, Qatar for the upcoming final round of FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers at night on Friday.

Espanol forward Wu participated in the whole session, only hours after he arrived at the hotel in early morning on Friday. "I feel very excited and happy to come back to the national team. We are all looking forward to the final round matches. My body is in a good condition after the pre-season training at the club," Wu said.

In order to prepare for the first match between China and Australia which is scheduled on September 2, Wu left Espanol in advance and therefore he will miss the club's La Liga match this weekend. "Because the first two matches are very important, and we want to have a good start. We have communicated with the club to leave two days in advance so that I could have more time to prepare," Wu said.

"The coaching team said we need to have the confidence to compete with the Australian side. I think all our players are very confident," noted the 30-year-old striker. "No matter how the match goes, the key is to adjust our mindset."

As China's first two matches will be held in Doha, Wu believes hot and humid weather would not be a trouble for the team since most of his teammates have experienced three matches in West Asia in June this year, when China beat the Philippines, Maldives and Syria in previous Asian qualifiers. "I think the weather might be a bigger challenge for our opponents. If the match were not held in a stadium that has air conditioning system, we will have more advantages." said the Chinese international.

During the training session on Friday, young forward Guo Tianyu and midfielder Wang Qiuming could only do rehabilitation training due to injury, but a team official said they are very close to a full recovery.

China will fight against Australia next Thursday in Khalifa International Stadium, where the Chinese team failed to qualify for Russian World Cup four years ago.