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Scouting
Report
Style of play: Coach Bora Milutinovic favours
a traditional 4-4-2 formation with two strikers up front.
Employing a flat-back four, China's defenders rarely
saunter up field to offer a supporting role in attack.
Instead, they stay in their own half of the field and
stick to their defensive duties. China's midfielders
move the ball around the middle of the pitch with great
pace, using short one-touch and quick give-and-go passes
to spring its strikers on a break towards goal. China
is also very astute and opportunistic in executing set-pieces;
they take free kicks very quickly before the defending
team has even set up its defensive wall.
Strengths:
Coaching -- Bora Milutinovic is one of the most
experienced international coaches in soccer, having
led four different countries to the World Cup finals
(Mexico in 1986, Costa Rica in 1990, the United States
in 1994 and Nigeria in 1998). Milutinovic will inspire
his players to play well above their heads.
Team spirit -- China knows it is an underdog
at this year's World Cup, but the players are bound
by an incredible sense of enthusiasm and team spirit.
Because nobody expects anything from them, China has
no pressure to cope with and can afford to take chances,
allowing it to catch opponents off guard.
Fan support -- Great numbers of Chinese fans
are expected to make the short trip to South Korea,
meaning China will be one of the best-supported teams
at the World Cup.
Weaknesses:
Inexperience -- China has never competed in the
World Cup. Its poor pedigree and lack of players with
first-team experience who have played in Europe means
Brazil, Turkey and Costa Rica should have no trouble
in brushing them aside.
Untested in qualifying -- True, China did win
12 games and only lost one game in qualifying; but nations
like Cambodia, Qatar and Oman can hardly be classified
as tough opponents. China's lack of serious competition
in qualifying will come back to haunt them here.
Goal scoring -- China outscored its opponents
38-5 in qualifying, but its strikers will have a hard
time duplicating a similar scoring record against defenders
the calibre of Brazil's Roberto Carlos, Turkey's Emre
Asik and Costa Rica's Austin Berry.
Key injuries/squad omissions:
Striker Yang Chen is battling a nagging ankle injury,
but it shouldn't keep him off China's roster….
Midfielder Yu Genwei recovered in time from a torn knee
ligament to be selected for duty…. Midfielder Ma
Mingyu, and defenders Fan Zhiyi and Li Weifeng are battling
minor injuries but won't miss any action.…
Outlook:
China rolled through two rounds of Asian qualifying
with ease, but it will find it much harder to secure
points in Group C against Brazil, Turkey and Costa Rica.
Brazil will blow China out of the water, and Costa Rica
and Turkey - hungry to make a name for themselves after
lengthy absences from the World Cup - will probably
do the same. Qualifying for its first World Cup was
a big accomplishment, but the Chinese are in way over
their heads. They will concede a slew of goals - and
more than likely won't score any - and look doomed to
finish in the cellar of Group C after losing all three
of its games in embarrassing fashion.
The
Country
Location: Eastern Asia, bordering the East China
Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between
North Korea and Vietnam.
Capital: Beijing
Area: 9,596,960 sq km
Population:1,261,832,482 (July 2000 est.)
Government type: Communist state
Climate: Extremely diverse, from tropical in
south to subarctic in north.
Ethnic groups: Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur,
Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean,
and other nationalities 8.1%.
Religions: Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim
2%-3%, Christian 1% (est.).
Languages: Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua,
based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese),
Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang,
Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages.
History: China stood as one of the world's leading
civilizations until the 20th century when it became
plagued by famine, civil unrest, military defeats, and
foreign occupation. After World War II, Communist rule
was established under the dictatorship of Mao Zedong.
Under Zedong, China achieved sovereignty, but also imposed
strict controls over the everyday life of its citizenry,
costing the lives of tens of millions of people. In
1978, Zedong's successor Deng Xiaoping decentralized
the country's economic decision-making; as a result,
China's output quadrupled over the following 20 years.
Today, China has the world's second largest GDP, but
political controls remain repressive, even while economic
controls continue to loosen.
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