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China sticking with Gao despite poor Asian Cup performance

Tuesday, 18th January 2011 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

China's disappointments in football continued as the team was knocked out of the AFC Asian Cup in the first round. A win over Kuwait (2-0) was cancelled out by a loss to Qatar (0-2) and a draw with Uzbekistan (2-2), to leave China in third place in Group A. The top two teams, Qatar and Uzbekistan, proceed to the quarterfinals. Other teams remaining are Iraq, North Korea, UAE, Iran, Japan and Jordan.

Despite the early exit, the Chinese federation still wants coach Gao Hongbo to continue to lead the team in its quest to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The team will, however, look to hire a "foreign technical consultant," according to a report from Xinhua, quoting Chinese Football Association chief Wei Di: "The CFA officials have agreed that it's necessary for China's soccer to have some great coaches of our own. So we decided to go abroad and to invite a coach for the coaches," he said.

Zhang Linpeng image: Xinhua

Tags: Asian Cup, football, Gao Hongbo, soccer