Hosts China were held by Bahrain 2-2 as Mohamed Ali scored a last-minute equalizer in the 13th Asian Cup soccer tournament opening match in the Workers' Stadium in Beijing on Saturday.

China had fought back from one goal down in the first half to lead 2-1 with two second half goals and they had been ready to celebrate before Ali's stunner.

"It's a hard lesson for us," said China head coach Arie Haan. "We did not play well in the first half. During the halftime, I told the players to play more aggressively."

The Dutchman said that after scoring two goals, the Chinese players sat back to defend.

"In the last 15 minutes, the players were playing like the first half. We should have won the match."

Bahrain coach Srecho Juricic echoed Hann's view that China should have played attacking soccer in the whole 45 minutes in the second half.

"Both sides played cautiously in the first half," he said. "We scored a goal in counter attacking. China is a very good team and they played aggressively in the first 30 minutes of the second half, when we stopped to attack."

The Croat said that China made the same mistakes after leading 2-1. "We played well and China sat and defended. So it's not a surprise for us to level the score."

China, hosting the Asian Cup for the first time, paid the watching Sepp Blatter, FIFA's president, a grand opening ceremony for the world soccer's governing body's decision to announce China's Zibo City the birthplace of the world's most beautiful game.

The west Asian side took a surprise 1-0 halftime lead two minutes before the break in the 43rd minute when midfielder lobbed China goalkeeper Liu Yunfei after being released by teammate in their own half.

With a boisterous crowd of about 40,000 cheering, the Chinese looked more and more desperate to score a goal in the second half and their efforts were paid off in the 60th minute, thanks to a fatal mistake by Bahrain defender Sayed Mahfoodh.

Mahfoodh handled the ball in the box and Malaysian referee Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh immediately pointed at the spot.

Center back Zheng Zhi stepped in to hit the ball into the bottom corner of the Bahrain net.

The hosts were greatly encouraged and only five minutes later, after several good touches by teammates, the ball fell to striker Li Jinyu and the Shandong Luneng player, who also played with French first division side Nante, drove a shot from left home after rebounding off the far post.

China wasted a few more chances to increase the lead because of a lack of killing touch.

Haan's side stood equal with Bahrain in Group A, which also consists Qatar and Indonesia. The two sides will play their match on Sunday.

The Dutchman surprised the Chinese fans by leaving Manchester City defender Sun Jihai and Munich 1860 midfielder Shao Jiayi out of the starting lineup.

Li Weifeng, who played briefly for English premier league side Everton, failed to win the captaincy, which was given to Liaoning midfielder Zhao Junzhe.

And the Chinese might have been regarded as favorites before the match but Bahrain appeared all but a weak side.

China had not got their first serious opportunity until the 15th minute as right back Wei Xin raced down the right flank with the ball, delivering a perfect cross to find the head of midfielder Li Xiaopeng, but the Shandong player nodded the ball wide.

Veteran striker Hao Haidong had only one defender to beat in the 25th minute and his shot was well caught by Baharin keeper Abdul Karim.

The visitors could rarely threaten China's defense, but with apparently better skill, they won several free kicks some 25 meters in front of China's goal, although they found it not enough to put the ball behind China's net.

Shao, who joined the German Bundesliga in 2002, had a lot to thank in the 35th minute, when he was sent on to replace the seriously injured Li Xiaopeng.