The coach of the US under-23 side wants to avoid facing China if
his team qualifies for next year's Olympics after a friendly
between the teams ended with a contentious penalty and an ugly
brawl.
China's Olympic team drew with the United States 3-3 in
Guangzhou on Sunday after the home side converted an injury-time
penalty, which local media reports described as "dubious".
US coach Peter Nowak said the host's "very good" hospitality had
not extended to the field of play, China's Titan newspaper
reported.
"All I can say is that I wish China luck during the Olympics,
but if we qualify, I hope we don't meet them in the finals, because
being the Olympic host, they're certain to have a lot of help," the
paper quoted Nowak as saying.
China striker Du Zhenyu slotted home the spot-kick after
teammate Wang Xiaolong had fallen in the penalty area under
pressure from US defenders.
Moments later, Wang and US captain Sacha Kljestan were both
dismissed after a crude tackle by the former sparked a mass brawl
between the teams.
Chinese soccer official Nan Yong also expressed his
disappointment.
"We are going nowhere if they cannot make major improvements
before the Olympics," said Nan, vice-president of Chinese Football
Association. "They need to catch up with those international
powerhouses, and at the same time, they have to learn to calm down
and not behave like this any more.
"I cannot imagine how bad it will be if they had a brawl or
something during the Beijing Olympics."
China's head coach Ratomir Dujkovic echoed Nan, saying the
team's performance let him down.
"This is a shame of the Olympic Team," he told sina.com. "I call
it shame not because we lost three balls in the first half, I feel
embarrassed because some players didn't try their best."
The 16-team Olympic soccer tournament will take place in Beijing
and four other cities from August 6-23.
(Agencies via China Daily December 18, 2007)