BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Former Chinese forward Li Yi has described China's 1-0 away win over Bahrain in a FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifier as a much-needed uplift for Chinese football as a whole.

The Chinese team won the crucial game thanks to a goal scored by Zhang Yuning in injury-time, just minutes after Bahrain had a goal disallowed for offside.

"Zhang Yuning's strike killed off the game, it is a priceless goal," Li wrote on social media on Friday.

"It is an uplifting win, which, I believe, can bring huge benefits to the sluggish Chinese football industry," he wrote.

"To their credit, the Chinese players did a great job in defending," Li said.

He noted that China needs to do even better in defending when it next faces Japan in four days at home.

"I believe only with a solid defending can our team have the chance to go far," he added.

With the win over Bahrain, China climbed to the fourth place with six points in the six-team Group C. Enditem

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