Left back Sun Xiang made his debut here in the duel between
Eindhoven PSV and Arsenal on Tuesday night, making him the first
Chinese soccer player playing at European Champions League.
Five minutes after Sun Xiang's teammate Edison Mendez scored the
goal for the host team, PSV head coach Ronald Koeman sent Sun Xiang
to the field, helping create the history for the Chinese.
"This is the first Chinese player to appear at the Champions
league, it is good for China," Koeman told Xinhua after the
match.
Koeman said he made this decision from the "technical way", and
Sun Xiang got this chance because of his "quality".
"Last Saturday, he started in the team. He had a good position,
he did very well during the past half an hour," he added.
Sun Xiang, for himself, said he was "very happy with" and "proud
of" becoming the first Chinese player playing at the European
Champions League.
"I'm well prepared. I did not feel pressure when the head coach
sent me to the field," the 25-year-old told Xinhua.
"The head coach told me that my task is to defend the winger,
and I lived up to this task," he added.
(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2007)