Last time NZ and China met was in March (in Wuhan): 1-1 draw with NZ having a side without many of it's senior players and China having a makeshift side as half of the squad headed off to Honduras I think. The intention this time is for NZ to have all of the senior players available - including the UK based ones - Nelsen (QPR), Reid (West Ham), Smith (Ipswich), Wood (Millwall/WBA). However as is the case with clubs and international friendlies, it is quite likely that these guys might pick up "injuries" just before they are due to fly out. This should be an interesting match because NZ has struggled so far in the Oceania qualifying rounds for the WC - top of the group but hardly with dominating performances. But it does have a stack full of up and coming talent as well as some seasoned heads in defence and up front. I think China can win this if there is a good length of time for the team to train before the match and work on tactics. NZ will have no time to meet beforehand as the UK, Greece and A-League competitions will still be going. (NZ uses a 3-4-3 formation mostly but has started to experiment with 4-4-2)
Just checked wiki: The game was in March 2011 (how time flies); 25th and the other China squad played against Costa Rica on 26th March.
So a 1-1 draw. Zhao Peng with the goal for China and Chris Wood with the goal for New Zealand to equalize. I thought we played well in the first half, but second half we didn't have enough offense. Defending was alright, but at times we had gaps that could've led to a second goal for New Zealand.
A good hit out for both sides. China looked strong for most of the 1st half, but NZ finished well. China's main strength was the speed on the wings, but some poor finishing denied at least one maybe two more goals. Second half as soon as the three early subs were made, NZ gained dominance in the midfield and played more of a passing game, but also couldn't capitalise in front of goal. Overall NZ should probably have taken this, but arguably if Camacho had decided to keep the Hengda players on then a draw would be more representative of both teams' strengths. Both sides didn't disgrace themselves and the China squad seems sufficiently "young" to develop into a real challenge for the 2016 Asian Cup (and hopefully for the 2018 WC). For NZ - still need to work on finding a creative midfielder...
If we even want to play in the 2015 Asian Cup, we'll have to get out of our tough qualifying group of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia.
zhao peng scoring a goal is already a miracle seems the chinese fans are consented that zhao xuri is playing well.
I think it can and should be achievable, but I always have a bad feeling in my gut with Camacho at the helm.
China Women NT qualified for 2013 East Asian Championship. They beat Australia in the final game 2-1 to qualify, a draw would´ve not been enough as Australia had superior goal difference. They had previously beaten Hong Kong 6-0 and Chinese Taipei 2-0
I wish they'd stream those games, I'd watch it. Hell, I watched Vietnam vs Myanmar last night for AFF Suzuki Cup!
just curious why you are interested in asian football? i know you are a spanish-white dude in us of a. but from european football, major league soccer, sudamericano, why asian?
I watch La Liga, firstly for Real Madrid. And if no other Asian footbal is on, if like EPL or Serie A or such is on, I'll watch that. I am not sure why I like it. I just do... hmmm. Although I prefer Chinese above any other Asian football.
your sig: 中国国家足球队迷和广州恒大 should be 中国国家足球队和广州恒大球迷 (China National Team and Guangzhou Evergrande football fan).
just grammar. your original 中国国家足球队迷和广州恒大 actually means: China Football National Football team fan and Guangzhou Evergrande.
china will be having friendly game with oman in preparation for the saudi arabia match. news said oman "plays similar to saudi arabia, especially with emphasis on foot work" (i think the news is trying to say they focus on passing/teamwork then speed-and-tackle football)
huang bowen in a recent interview as mentioned he is banned for four official games, he won't appear for the first four asian cup qualifiers, and he is MORE than confident that he will play in the final two. (if people wondered why huang bowen never showed up for past china games, huang bitch slapped a singaporean player during the china 4-0 game, originally it was a straight red - one match ban, but AFC said the conduct was too violent, so he was banned for four additional games. any friendly games between the singapore match and the next asian cup qualifier, you won't see huang bowen as camacho rather let qin sheng/lu peng play instead)
That sucks. I was really hoping to see him play for the national team again. I thought his ban was over.