China out of finals for World Cup despite 7-0 win over Hong Kong of China

China's Li Jinyu (L) vies for the ball with Hong Kong of China's captain during the 2006 World Cup qualifying match in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 17, 2004. China was out of the final round of qualifiers despite 7-0 win over HK.

China thrashed Hong Kong of China 7-0 in their last World Cup qualifiers on Wednesday, but it was not enough to keep them in the contention for a berth of the 2006 World Cup finals.

As Kuwait, who leads China by a goal difference of two going into the last round, beat Malaysia 6-1 at home in the other game which was kicked off at the same time, the West Asians qualified from the Group D for the next stage of final eight as they scored one more goal than China in overall.

China, who are determined to score goals as early as possible, dished out attacking soccer and constantly raided the rival citadel and their efforts paid off in the 8th minute when Li Jinyu found the net with an angled powerful shot. The striker raced to a deft pass by teammate Shao Jiayi and drove it past Hong Kong goalkeeper Fan Chun Yip before three defenders attempted to stop him.

Hong Kong of China seemed content of sitting back to field a packed defence and managed only one shot on goal in the first half. China, who squandered several chances, had to wait 34 minutes before scoring their second goal. A shot by midfielder Yan Song caused a melee in the area and the ball rebounded to Shao who stepped up from the middle to thunder it in just inside the goalmouth.

Shao, who plays with Munich 1860 of Germany, hit in China's third goal two minutes later.

Li Jinyu (L) and Li Tie walk out of the stadium after the match.

Hong Kong players appeared to be running out of stamina after the break and in the 47th minute Li netted again when he burst into the area to latch onto a pass by defender Zheng Zhi and tapped it past the helpless Fan.

China's fifth goal came in the 49th minute as midfielder Xu Yunlong scored on a volley. Despite a 5-0 lead, China, seeking a big-margin win, chose not to relax. Forward Yu Genwei, who took off veteran striker Hao Haidong in the second half, and defender Li Weifeng scored respectively before the end.

But their eighth goal, which should have kept their chance for the World Cup finals alive, never came.

Results of Asian zone World Cup qualifying tournament

Following are the results of Asianzone second stage World Cup qualifying tournament matches on Wednesday:

China bt Hong Kong of China 7-0

Kuwait bt Malaysia 6-1

Japan bt Singapore 1-0

South Korea bt Maldives 2-0

Uzbekistan bt Chinese Taipei 6-1

Source: Xinhua