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China's players gesture after the friendship soccer match between the national teams of China and Iran in Qinhuangdao, a city in north China's Hebei Province, June 1, 2009. China won 1-0. [Xinhua]
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A young China edged Iran 1-0 to give new coach Gao Hongbo his first victory in an international friendly at the Qinhuangdao Olympic Stadium Monday in Hebei Province.
China held European runners-up Germany to a surprising 1-1 draw three days ago in Shanghai, which seemed to boost the side's morale greatly.
Striker Gao Lin took the winner at the end of the first half with a timely follow-up into the empty net after left back Rong Hao's 25-meter freekick was rebounded by the near post.
"China showed their quality with two good results with Germany and us. The future is bright for them and I should congratulate the young coach for his first win," said Iran boss Seyed Ghotbi.
"I think the 1-0 score is not a fair result. We could at least get a draw. We had more control of the game and created a lot of chances, but we conceded a goal in a big mistake."
"I listed several new faces in the starting lineup, and the team were nervous in the first 15 minutes. But they adjusted themselves quickly after that and I'm very happy," said Gao Hongbo.
"They are very concentrated on the pitch, and showed the power of teamwork. But I'm not satisfied with the organization in defence, and we should quicken the passes."
Gao changed nine starters from the game with the Mannschaft, including some debutants like He Yang and Rong Hao. But the young team showed their energy with some disciplined defence and sharp attacks.
Defender He Yang nearly added the second for the hosts on 73 minutes, but his curved header following Zheng Zhi's right flank freekick rattled the crossbar.
Iran had only one clear chance in the 55th minute. Javad Kazemian dashed down along the right wing in a counter-attack and rounded a defender and keeper Zeng Cheng, before firing a low shot to be blocked by another Chinese fullback.
Iran is preparing for their next World Cup Asian qualifier against DPR Korea on June 6, and a Chinese referee will be in charge of that game. Ghotbi didn't forget to take this chance to give some psychological hints.
"I don't want to speak about the referee, but he missed a 100 per cent penalty for us and a 100 per cent red card for China. Thankfully it's just a friendly. I hope when we play DPR Korea, the Chinese referee could be fair."
