World Cup misery for China despite thrashing Hong Kong<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Guangzhou, China<\/p>\n
China's stuttering World Cup campaign came to a dramatic end
\non Wednesday despite a 7-0 thrashing of Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
The Asian giant, needing a cricket score to overhaul group-
\nleading Kuwait's superior goal difference, duly obliged but was
\nundone by the 6-1 scoreline in Kuwait City, which saw it
\nheartbreakingly lose out on goals scored.<\/p>\n
Goals either side of the break by Li Jinyu, together with a
\nfirst-half double by Shao Jiayi and second-half strikes by Xu
\nYunlong, Yu Genwei and Li Weifeng, saw China clinch an emphatic
\nwin in front of about 35,000 fans.<\/p>\n
But the result is likely to spell an end to the China career
\nof coach Arie Haan, who took over in 2002 with the remit of
\nimproving on a goalless performance in the last World Cup.<\/p>\n
China will also rue a second-half penalty miss by Zheng Zhi,
\ntipped around the post by Hong Kong's livewire 'keeper Fan Chun-
\nyip.<\/p>\n
China started brightly with Hao Haidong and Wei Xin going close
\nearly on. Li Jinyu opened the scoring in the eighth minute,
\ncapitalising on a defensive error from Hong Kong captain Lee Wai-
\nMan to burst into the box and lash a fierce left-footed shot into
\nthe top right-hand corner.<\/p>\n
The home side, roared on by an enthusiastic crowd, camped out
\naround Hong Kong's penalty area and rarely allowed the visitors
\nto get out of their own half.<\/p>\n
Li, the scorer, found the side-netting and Hao came close on a
\nnumber of occasions including one shot which was deflected on to
\nthe bar.<\/p>\n
But midfield star Shao Jiayi gave the fans renewed hope when
\nhe latched on to a loose ball on the edge of the box and slammed
\na right-footed shot past keeper Fan.<\/p>\n
Shao, China's top scorer at the recent Asian Cup, capitalized
\non another goalmouth scramble to make it 3-0 just three minutes
\nlater.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, South Korea struggled into the final round of Asian
\nqualifiers for the 2006 World Cup with an unconvincing 2-0
\nvictory over the Maldives.<\/p>\n
The 2002 World Cup semifinalist -- which is bidding to reach
\nits sixth consecutive finals, an Asian record -- made sure of top
\nspot in Group Seven thanks to second-half goals from Kim Do-Heon
\nand Lee Dong-Gook.<\/p>\n
But it was a lacklustre showing from South Korea, which
\nstruggled to break down opponents who had held them to a shock 0-
\n0 draw in the earlier pool fixture in Male in March.<\/p>\n
Maldives keeper Mohamed kept the Koreans at bay for much of
\nthe match, pulling off a string of fine saves to frustrate the
\nhome side.<\/p>\n
Mohamed blocked from PSV Eindhoven's Park Ji-Sung and eventual
\ngoalscorer Lee in the first half as the Asian soccering minnows
\nmanaged to hold Korea to 0-0 at the break.<\/p>\n
Eager to make up for the disappointing opening 45 minutes, the
\nKoreans upped the pressure at the start of the second half and
\ntheir hard work paid off in the 67th minute when midfielder Kim's
\nleft-footed drive rolled into the net.<\/p>\n
Fifteen minutes later, Lee Dong-Gook tucked home a cross from
\nSeol Ki-Hyeon to make the game safe.<\/p>\n
South Korea, one of Asia's strongest soccer nation, has
\nimproved its form since Jo Bonfrere was appointed coach in June,
\nreplacing Humberto Coelho of Portugal.<\/p>\n
Asian champion Japan struggled past Singapore 1-0 to finish
\nthe first phase of Asian qualifiying for the 2006 World Cup with
\na 100 percent record.<\/p>\n
Japan, which had already booked its place in next year's final
\nqualifying round, made it six wins out of six in Group Three
\nthanks to a 13th minute goal by striker Keiji Tamada.<\/p>\n
Japan coach Zico said he was satisified with the victory even
\nthough a defensive-minded Singapore had limited his side's
\nscoring opportunities.<\/p>\n
\"Our biggest goal was to pass through the first round by
\nwinning all the six games. We did that. So I am satisfied with
\nour performance,\" said the Brazilian legend.<\/p>\n
\"Having gone through the six matches, the team has grown and
\nhas become united. I am happy with what we have achieved,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Japan, missing several of its European-based stars including
\nformer Asian player of the year Hidetoshi Nakata, started the
\ngame in dominant fashion but faded as the match progressed.<\/p>\n
On 11 minutes, Masashi Motoyama went close to opening the
\nscoring but just failed to nudge home from close range after a
\nfumble by Singapore keeper Lionel Lewis.<\/p>\n
But Motoyama made up for the miss moments later, centring for
\nTamada who made no mistake.<\/p>\n
Japan could have made it 2-0 shortly afterwards only to be
\ndenied by a superb save from Lewis, blocking athletically to beat
\naway a header from Naoki Matsuda.<\/p>\n
With Japan continuing to squander chances, Singapore gradually
\nbegan to find their rhythm and even threatened the home side.<\/p>\n
But their best chance of the first half -- a free-kick just in
\nfront of the Japanese area on 20 minutes -- was sent cannoning
\ninto the wall by striker Indra Sahdan Daud.<\/p>\n
In injury time, Singapore's Itami Dickson rushed from left to
\nfire a shot at the close range, but Japanese goalkeeper Yoichi
\nDoi punched it out.<\/p>",
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