WUHAN, China, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- A late penalty kick from Gao Lin helped China keep the slim hope to enter the 2018 World Cup as Marcello Lippi's side beat Uzbekistan 1-0 at home on Thursday in the penultimate round of the Asian qualifying campaign.
"I always tell my players. When there is still a theoretical chance, we have no reason to give up. We should make every efforts to achieve it. Now, it is the same attitude for us to play in the last match (away against Qatar)," said the Italian World Cup winning coach.
China wasted a bunch of clear chances and looked close to a goalless draw until the 84th minute, when defender Feng Xiaoting was fouled down in the area and awarded the valuable chance.
Gao, the target man, struck the ball to the bottom left corner to grab the last mathematical chance for the hosts.
"From professional view, I admit that the luck is on our side tonight. But the match also shows that the team still has large space to improve," added Lippi.
With one game left against Qatar, China, having collected nine points from nine matches to sit in the provisional fifth place of the six-team Group A, jointly led by Iran and South Korea, cherishes the hope for a third-place finish to earn the chance of vying for a play-off berth.
China will play against Qatar, who has been eliminated after a 3-1 defeat by Syria, in its last qualifier five days later.
After Thursday's matches, Syria stood third with a better goal difference over Uzbekistan, both have accumulated 12 points. China has to beat Qatar with enough goals, hoping the duo will both lose their next matches.
However, Lippi showed his confidence to his players.
"We need to concentrate on ourselves to improve in the following days. I have not compared with other teams. But if Syria lose to Iran 3-0, a 1-0 victory for us maybe enough. Let's see," said the Italian.
In Thursday's vital clash, China had an early sight of goal just four minutes into the match when winger Wu Lei picked up the ball in the central area but sent his volley just wide of the right post.
A sold-out attendance of 51,666 in the Wuhan Sports Center drove on the home side with the rhythmic thud of the drums in a cool night, witnessing an offensive open play from China in the dominant first half.
China should have opened the deadlock in a huge chance nine minutes before the break. Central midfielder Zhang Xizhe broke through the visitors' back-line with a smart touch to dash into the area, but he wasted a one-on-one opportunity by shooting the ball straight down the central control of Ignatiy Nesterov, the goalkeeper.
It was later proved to be the best chance for China in 90 minutes as Lippi's side didn't get any much clearer chance afterwards.
Uzbekistan also spurned a one-on-one chance two minutes later. The visitors' winger Marat Bikamaev dispossessed Deng Hanwen and cut back from the left flank for Igor Sergeev, who struck wide in front of an open net.
The open play from both sides in the rest of game didn't bring a goal until Gao's penalty kick.
At the final whistle, the full-capacity stadium was ignited with a chorus by fans and players singing "Life in full bloom", a popular song from rock star Wang Feng.
It's the second victory for China in the last-12 team campaign, which China reached the stage for the first time since 2002, when it qualified for its first-ever World Cup finals.
