Coach, fans and media 'give a like' to players despite quarter final defeat

China's Ren Hang (L) and Australia's Tim Cahill jump for the ball during their Asian Cup quarter-final soccer match at the Brisbane Stadium in Brisbane January 22, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

BRISBANE, Australia –The best team China in one decade won kudos from their countrymen despite they failed to move further at the Asian cup soccer tournament on Thursday.

The players had done what they could when facing the host team and there is no dissatisfaction from the coach, head coach of the Chinese national football team Alain Perrin said on Thursday at the press conference after China lost to Australia 0-2 in the 2015 Asian Cup quarterfinal.

The two teams failed to score in the first half. However, Tim Cahill, the Socceroos' 35-year-old striker, managed to break the balance with an acrobatic overhead kick in the 48th minute. In the 65th minute, Cahill consolidated the victory for the Socceroos with a powerful header.

"It was not a problem that your opponent scored first. What's important is how you could follow your own way of playing despite the score," said Perrin.

"The Socceroos had a wonderful performance at their home pitch. Our player, as you can see, had made their best efforts. I have no dissatisfaction whatsoever on them. They've done what they could."

He said every player had made good performance, especially Zhang Linpeng, who played the whole match despite his injury.

A photo of Zhang's broken socks posted on the team's official micro blog after the match tells how tight the game was: