China seize opportunity to punish 10-man Kuwait

China’s new generation made winning start to their Asian Cup campaign with 2-0 victory against 10-man Kuwait.

DOHA: China’s new generation made a winning start to their Asian Cup campaign with a 2-0 victory against 10-man Kuwait in their Group A opener at the Al Gharafa Stadium.

Kuwait went a man down in the first half when Mesad Nada was sent off for an ugly foul on Yang Xu and China made their numerical advantage count when Zhang Linpeng broke the deadlock shortly before the hour. Deng Zhouxiang doubled the lead with a free-kick, to put Gao Hongbo’s team – whose average age is just 24 – level with Uzbekistan at the top of the group.

Kuwait triumphed at both the West Asian Championship and the Gulf Cup late last year.

Uzbeks spoil Qatar Asian Cup party

Odil Akhmedov and Server Djeparov shattered Qatari dreams with second-half goals to hand Uzbekistan a 2-0 win over the below-par hosts in the opening game of the Asian Cup on Friday.

Central defender Akhmedov bagged the first goal of the tournament when he sent a looping 30-yard shot crashing off the underside of the bar and into the net in the 58th minute. Captain Djeparov sealed the win 18 minutes later when he made the most of a sloppy back pass by Ibrahim Majed, firing the ball past goal-keeper Qasem Burhan.

The football festival, featuring the region’s top 16 teams, runs for three weeks up to the final on January 29 with the opening match played at the Khalifa Stadium, the 40,000-capacity jewel in Qatar’s footballing crown.

“It was a difficult match for us against the home team and I’m very sorry for the Qatar people, but this is the game,” said Uzbek coach Vadim Abramov. “But I’m happy for Uzbekistan. I think we were the better team. “

Qatar came into the game with plenty to prove — their previous best Asian Cup showing was a quarter-final exit at the hands of China in 2000. In their six other appearances – including one as hosts in 1988 – they have failed to progress beyond the group phase.

Coach Bruno Metsu was bitterly disappointed at how poorly they played.

“Today was a very bad day for our team. We wanted to play a good game for the people of Qatar, but we played a very bad game,” said the Frenchman. “I’m sorry for the fans and everyone else because they wanted us to give the best and today we certainly did not. I hope we can get better.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2011.