China survived a scare against Singapore on Friday before getting
their World Cup qualifying campaign off to a winning start in front of
new boss Jose Antonio Camacho.
Second-half goals from ex-Charlton man Zheng Zhi and Yu Hai
secured a 2-1 win in Kunming, saving former Spain and Real Madrid coach
Camacho from an embarrassing opening defeat after the visitors took a
shock lead.
Prolific striker Aleksandar Duric capitalised on a break to put
Singapore in front on 33 minutes, but the arrival of Zheng from the
bench in the 67th minute swung the game in favour of the Chinese.
Qu Bo had a penalty saved by Singapore's Lionel Lewis on 59
minutes but Zheng was given the opportunity to level the scores from the
spot just 10 minutes later, when Yu Dabao was upended in the area.
The former Charlton Athletic and Celtic midfielder made no
mistake with what was virtually his first touch after coming on to
replace Huang Bowen in the 67th minute, giving Lewis no chance with a
perfectly executed penalty.
Tensions flared between the teams and Singapore manager Raddy
Avramovic was sent from the bench by referee Andre El Haddad after
questioning a decision not to award Duric a penalty when he seemed to
have been brought down in the area.
But with 12 minutes remaining Zheng was again involved in the
move that delivered a winning start for the Chinese in Group A, where
they will also face 2007 Asian champions Iraq and Jordan.
Yu Dabao saw his effort saved at point-blank range by Lewis, only
for the ball to fall kindly for Yu Hai who gratefully snapped up the
chance.
ORIGINAL SOURCE
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