"It's not if I could, but I have to", said Arie Haan when asked if he could surpass his predecessor after a friendly between China and Chile August 20.

"I must make China qualified for the World Cup 2006 at Germany. We need to make further efforts", Haan said after China was held a goaless 0-0 in the match played in Northern China's Tianjin.

This is China's third international friendly since Haan took over last year. The previous two are 0-0 draw with Brazil and 1-0 win over Estonia.

With the guests bringing a team made up of entirely home-based players, Haan also tested some fresh strengths in the game, including the 18-year-old Zhou Haibing, whose appearance at this match broke Sun Jihai's record of being the youngest Chinese international.

Sun, now playing for the Premier League side Manchester City, was first included in Chinese national team in 1996 at the Asian Cup, aged 19.

Arie Haan said he was generally satisfactory at the performance brought by the new faces. "The match is very good for their learning as we need players of different ages", said Haan. " I've been tracking many talented players in China's domestic league, and I need to bring them to the national team to make the final decision.

"I need to test different choices for every position, and I need to test their form and brain when playing", said the Haan, "Zhou Haibing is good. He created some chances."

But Haan refused to deliver further comments on who impressed him most in the match.

China is setting off a training tour in the US after the match with Chile. The first team that China would meet on their friendly schedule is Bora Milutinovic's Honduras, who hired the veteran Serbian two weeks ago.

When informed with the result that Japan beat Nigeria 3-0 in a friendly shortly before the match, Haan showed his humbleness. "We are currently not so strong as Japan and Korea", said Haan, " but it's hard to say who will win if we meet at the Asian Cup next year."

(China Daily August 23, 2003)