China's overseas football stars Shao Jiayi, Li Tie and Dong
Fangzhuo are expected to start in today's Asian Cup qualifying
match against Singapore in Tianjin.
But news was not all positive after it was confirmed that injury
ruled out Manchester City defender Sun Jihai.
The trio's participation comes as a shot in the arm for China,
which has been struggling with injuries to centre back Du Wei and
national champions Shandong Luneng's forward Han Peng.
Han and club partner Li Jinyu, China Super League's top scorer,
impressed in recent club matches and in last week's 4-0 friendly
win against Thailand, meaning they were likely to pair up again
this evening.
Han's last-minute withdrawal through injury leaves the starting
position to Dong, who has flown over from Belgian club Royal
Antwerp.
Shao, who plays for Bundesliga side Energie Cottbus, is another
player fighting jet lag and exhaustion as he arrived at Tianjin
yesterday after appearing against Borussia Moenchengladbach on
Saturday.
However, with Zheng Zhi still serving a three-match suspension
from international fixtures for verbally abusing and spitting at a
referee, pressure will be on Shao to provide attacking thrust from
midfield.
Li Tie, who moved to Sheffield United from Everton this season,
will anchor the midfield alongside Zhao Junzhe.
China currently top Group E on goal difference, but following a
shock 2-1 defeat by Iraq, a win against Singapore is essential.
Palestine face off against Iraq today, with the game being played
in Jordan capital Amman due to security officials.
The group is finely poised with all four teams currently on
three points from two games, with four remaining. The top two go
through to the tournament in 2007 in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia
and Viet Nam. In 2004, China hosted the tournament, losing in the
final to rivals Japan.
Teamwork concerns
Head coach Zhu Guanghu is still concerned a lack of time for
players to train together is making it hard for his team to gel. As
well as Europe-based stars, players from Dalian Shide and Shandong
Luneng are also having problems implementing the coach's tactics
during training.
Dalian travelled to South Korea and Japan for the A3 Champions
Cup earlier this month and then had a domestic cup match, while
Shandong is also coming off a FA Cup match.
"Singapore are not as weak as we thought. We have to play our
own tempo. So it is important for players to communicate on the
pitch," said Zhu, who appeared in the stands last Saturday at
Singapore's warm-up match against Hong Kong.
"Singapore tempted a number of foreign talents to join their
national team. Some are tall and strong. I do not think it is easy
to beat their defence solely by headers. We have to stick to team
tactics.
"But we are playing at home and we have to win and score as many
as possible," Zhu said.
(China Daily August 16, 2006)