China boss Zhu under fire after hard win over Singapore

China head coach Zhu Guanghu was under fire after his side struggled in an Asian Cup qualifier against Singapore on Wednesday in Tianjin.

Budesliga side Cottbus's playermaker Shao Jiayi converted a last-gasp penalty kick to give China a hard 1-0 win.

China seemed rusty throughout the game and had few methods facing a staunch Singapore side. And it was not until the last minute into additional time that they could clinch victory with Shao's unerring drive.

Zhu was under big pressure before the match as the team lost to Iraq 1-2 in the previous game. Zhu had said that he would leave the post if the squad were defeated by Singapore.

"With 10 men on the pitch we really felt big pressure and I've told my players that they should control themselves during the game," said Zhu.

"The players made big efforts and created a lot of chances, but didn't make good use of them.

"My contract with the Chinese Football Association expires in November and my task is to lead China through to the Asian Cup finals," he said.

"This is a tough game. Both teams played hard. China controlled most of the game, but they should not end the battle in this way. I am not angry with the penalty, but I am not satisfied that two of my players gave China's left winger too much space to make the foray," commented Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic.

Zhu Guanghu took over the Chinese national team from Dutchman Arie Haan in February, 2005, after China were shut out by Kuwait from FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 in the preliminary round of the qualifiers.

Zhu hasn't brought obvious improvement to forge a solid team in the past 18 months, and the squad's international matches were full of poor memories.

Recently Zhu's coaching ability was doubted by the media and the fans, as they couldn't understand Zhu's strategy and his principles of choosing players, which they thought has led to China's shabby matches.

The spectators in the Singapore match whistled Zhu and called for his head throughout the second half, even after the penalty was scored.

The hosts dominated the first half, launching waves of attacks to claim their superiority. But Singapore's defense deemed pretty solid and China could only produce threats through set-pieces. Shao Jiayi bent a sharp-angle free kick in the first minute, but Lionel Lewis denied his efforts with a full-stretched save.

The in-form keeper stopped Xu Liang's goal-bound long-range thunderbolt at the end of the first half, parrying the ball aside the far post.

Singapore posed pressure to China by some counter attacks, but had small effect.

Substitute midfielder Zhao Xuri received his marching orders for a deliberate foul on 64 minutes, just 13 minutes after he was brought on to replace Tao Wei.

China slowed the pace on the pitch with 10 men, giving the opponent more space and gradually lost their dominance. Singapore went close in the 67th minute with a low free kick, only to be saved by Li Leilei.

Hitman Li Jinyu wasted a good chance when his timely half volley inside the box went wide of the near post. Shao hit the post four minutes before the end with a fine-curved free kick.

Source: Xinhua