BEIJING, 22 July 2004 — China closed in on a quarterfinal spot at the Asian Cup yesterday, the hosts destroying Indonesia 5-0 in a Beijing storm shower.
Earlier, striker Mohamed Hubail snatched an injury-time equalizer as Bahrain salvaged a 1-1 draw with Qatar, who a day ago dismissed their coach Philippe Troussier.
Indonesia coach Ivan Kolev had visited the Great Wall of China before the match in search of inspiration but his team were swept aside by a rampant Chinese team.
German-based midfielder Shao Jiayi capped a wonderful performance with two goals as China completely dominated the 200th match in Asian Cup finals history.
A crowd of 48,000 braved the driving rain to roar on China, who were anxious to atone for a lackluster 2-2 draw with Bahrain in their opening match at the weekend.
“We appreciated the great atmosphere,” said China coach Arie Haan. “I said before the tournament when you are at home you need your fans. Today we gave something back to them.”
China, who have never won the Asian Cup, have four points from two Group A games and only need to draw with Qatar on Sunday to be assured of a quarterfinal spot.
Indonesia have three points after their upset 2-1 victory over Qatar, while Bahrain have two points.
Qatar looked to be heading for a controversial victory in rain-swept Beijing following Wesam Rizik’s 59th-minute penalty.
But Hubail struck in stoppage time, scoring with a looping header to give Gulf Cup runners-up Bahrain their second successive draw after holding hosts China 2-2 on Saturday.
A dour game suddenly came to life after two controversial penalty decisions by Japanese referee Toru Kamikawa.
The official pointed to the spot after Seyd Bechir went tumbling under a challenge from Hassan Al Mosawi, although replays showed Al Mosawi had made a clean tackle.
At the other end, Kamikawa waved off furious appeals for a penalty when Saoud Fath clattered Bahrain substitute Duaij Naser in the 65th minute. A furious Naser was booked for protesting.
Qatar sacked Frenchman Troussier following their 2-1 defeat by Indonesia at the weekend.
“We tried to work on the psychological side before the game,” said new Qatar coach Saeed Al Mesned.
“I told the players they must believe they can do something for their country and to play with heart and discipline. They did that and we were very near to winning.”
Bahrain’s Croatian coach Srecko Juricic put a positive spin on the result, despite having been expected to win the match.
“We dominated most of the time but unfortunately they scored on the counterattack,” he said. “After that, we attacked more and played very well. In the end, I think we deserved this point.”
