China "must beat" Vietnam to keep World Cup hopes alive: Li Weifeng

BEIJING, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- China's FIFA World Cup qualifier against Vietnam is a must-win game, said former China international defender Li Weifeng.

China's campaign for the last stage of the Asian Zone qualification got off to a poor start with defeats to Australia and Japan in their first two games in early September, leaving them under pressure before facing Vietnam on October 7.

Li, who played in central defense as China qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, said that the current Chinese side must prove they can accomplish something in the qualification.

"They should do something positive in their campaign, and this means they should win the games they should win. They must get three points from the Vietnam game," he said.

Li said that the way China lost to Australia and Japan was frustrating.

"I think it's nothing surprising that China lost to Australia and Japan. We can accept the losses, but we saw nothing positive in those two games," he said.

China lost to Australia 3-0 and Japan 1-0 without mustering a single shot on goal.

China have been drawn in Group B with Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Vietnam in the final stage of the qualifying tournament. After a home-and-away round robin, the top two teams will qualify directly and the third will enter a playoff.

After the first two rounds of matches, China are rooted to the bottom with Vietnam in fifth place after defeats to Saudi Arabia and Australia.