Midfielder Zhou Haibin scored the only goal of the game to give China a 1-0 win over Iraq in the second round of the men's soccer event at the Doha Asian Games on Wednesday.

Zhou timed a half-volley to perfection from 22 meters out and powered it past goalkeeper Mohammed Khadum after the Iraqi defence failed to clear the cross by Shen Longyuan

Veteran coach Ratomir Dujikovic's men saw more ball possession in the first half. But Iraq had the better chances. Wang Dalei twice denied Karrar Muhamed when the in-form keeper caught a sharp header and shut out the Iraqi left winger one-to-one.

China were reduced to ten men four minutes before the interval, when left-back Zhang Ke received his second yellow card.

Iraq piled on the pressure in the second half looking for the equalized and when Muaad Saleem came close with a powerful low drive against the side net inside the box.

China's best chance of the second half came after 61 minutes when skipper Zheng Zhi darted down the left flank, finding Zhou Haibin with a smart back pass but the resulting shot went too high.

Gao Lin nearly doubled the advantage for China in the 75th minute, only to hook his shot skywards.

(Xinhua News Agency November 30, 2006)