Soccer national team concedes humiliating defeat

Yu Dabao, right, challenges a Thai player during China's 1-5 loss to Thailand in an international friendly in Hefei, Anhui province, June 15, 2013. [Photo/icpress.cn]

HEFEI - Poor possession, poor team work and most of all no fighting spirit resulted in the most humiliating defeat for years for China's national soccer team as they lost 5-1 to visiting Thailand team on Saturday.

Jose Camacho kept most of the usual starters on bench for the match but he soon found out that he lost control of the Chinese team as in the first 25 minutes his team was already 2-0 behind due to poor defense and casual mistakes.

The Spanish coach immediately made three substitutions and that proved effective as forward Yu Dabao charged forward and forced a penalty which was converted by Wang Yongbo at the 32nd minute.

The goal inspired the Chinese players a little, only for a little while.

The Thai team, which also left some of their star players at home, took full advantage of their opponents' absent-mindedness, quickly enlarged the gap to 3-1 before the interval and the goal turned out to be the last straw for the Chinese team.

Camacho made two further replacements in the second half only to see his team falling apart and conceding two more goals and the once very successful coach had to swallow the bitter 5-1 defeat.

The defeat was the third consecutive loss within a month for the Chinese team as they had lost to Uzbekistan 2-1 and the Netherlands 2-0.

Chinese goalkeeper Geng Xiaofeng concedes a goal during China's 1-5 loss to Thailand in an international friendly in Hefei, Anhui province, June 15, 2013. [Photo/icpress.cn]

The loss will surely cast shadows on Camacho's prospect as China's coach as near the ending of the match, local fans chanted "resign, resign" to express their resentment.

Some of the fans might still remember the match in August, 2011, which was also played here. In that match, China beat Jamaica 1-0. But after the win, then the Chinese coach Gao Hongbo was removed from the post and his successor was Jose Camacho.

After nearly two years in charge, Camacho hasn't achieved any noteworthy success in China. Of course, Camacho had his arguments for that and it would be unfair to hold only him for responsibility. But after such a humiliating defeat, Camacho is no longer a competent coach of the Chinese team as regarded by Chinese soccer fans.

Yet there are more questions to be answered: Who can be the qualified coach for the Chinese team? Who can eventually motivate the team which lacks skills, team work, and most importantly, fighting spirit?

Chinese national team players leave the court after a humiliating 1-5 loss to Thailand in an international friendly in Hefei, Anhui province, June 15, 2013. [Photo/icpress.cn]