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New Year, bigger challenge for Gao Hongbo

By Tang Zhe (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-02-15 07:52

China's coach, Gao Hongbo, reacts during his team's 2011 Asian Cup Group A match against Uzbekistan at the Al-Gharafa Stadium in Doha on Jan 16. [Photo/Agencies]

After failing to deliver at the Asian Cup, under-pressure men's soccer coach Gao Hongbo faces bigger challenges in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Tang Zhe reports.

The honeymoon is over for China's national soccer coach, Gao Hongbo. The 45-year-old mentor, who was hailed as a hero after winning the East Asian Soccer Championship last winter, fell back to earth after his side failed to qualify for the knockout round of the Asian Cup in Qatar this year.

Under growing pressure, his side will assemble for warm-up matches against New Zealand and Colombia next month in preparation for the 2014 World Cup Asian Zone qualifiers.

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The long-time underachiever has only made the World Cup once - in 2002 when the event was held in Japan and South Korea - and is still struggling to catch up to the top teams in the region.

Gao failed to deliver the desired results at the Asian Cup and refused interview requests after the team was eliminated.

Only after attending a meeting of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) in late January did the coach admit he had made some mistakes at the Asian Cup.

"Though we hoped to use the Asian Cup to prepare for the 2014 World Cup preliminaries, we should have shown our best at the tournament considering we were representing the country in such a big event," said Gao, who was sent to the stands during China's last group match against Uzbekistan and will miss the country's first World Cup preliminary as further punishment.

"The CFA chiefs have emphasized that it's not necessary to focus on the team's failings from time to time, instead we should make full use of our advantages to boost the team's fighting spirit," he said.