Chinese national men's soccer coach Zhu Guanghu came under renewed
pressure yesterday after his team lost to Thailand for the first
time in 14 years in a friendly tune-up for the Asian Cup.
"There is only one conclusion from the match: It would be
extremely inappropriate for Zhu Guanghu to remain in his position,"
said a commentary in the Beijing Morning Post.
Thailand edged the visitors 1-0 in Bangkok on a 40th-minute goal
from striker Pipat Thonkanya.?
It was Thailand's first victory against China since the 1993
Emperor's Cup in Thailand, according to state media.
Chinese newspapers criticised the coach's reliance on an aerial
long-ball attack, noting that the Thai players took advantage of
the spread-open field to use short, sharp passes to penetrate
China's defence.
"Ultimately, China's defence was basically paralysed," The First
newspaper said.
"If Thailand is in the top three teams in Asia, as has been
said, then China is at the bottom."
Zhu himself ripped into his players after the game.
"All of you told me there was no problem with your fitness. But
in fact, you couldn't run and had no attacking power. Is this how
you perform?" he was quoted by the Beijing Morning Post as telling
his players.
But the invective directed at Zhu by soccer fans on major
websites was even more fierce.
"Zhu Guanghu, if you are a real man, please resign. For the
country and for soccer fans," said one post on the popular portal
sina.com.
Another sina.com post used the Chinese character for "pig",
which sounds like Zhu's family name, in referring to the embattled
coach.
"We strongly demand that the national coach leave! Go back home
and raise some pigs!" it said.
Zhu took over the national team in March 2005 after their
failure to qualify for last year's World Cup under his predecessor
Arie Haan. However, a string of disappointing performances has kept
him under the gun since.
Similar problems in the country's women's team led to the March
replacement of coach Ma Liangxing with former Swedish national
coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors.
(China Daily via AFP May 18, 2007)
