http://gokunming.com/en/blog/item/2345/singapore_coach_kunming_world_cup_qualifier_a_dirty_trick
Singapore coach: Kunming World Cup qualifier a 'dirty trick'
Kunming is preparing to host a men's football World Cup qualifying match – and is once again being criticized as an unfair high-altitude venue by an opposing coach.
After defeating Laos 7:2 and 6:1 in recent matches in Kunming and Vientiane, respectively, China has advanced to the third round of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) tournament play and is scheduled to host a qualifying match on September 2 in Kunming.
China is aiming to be one of the four or five AFC teams to compete in the FIFA World Cup finals, which will be hosted by Brazil in 2014. The number of AFC representatives in Brazil will be determined after a playoff with the Oceania Football Confederation's top team.
Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic made his displeasure regarding the selection of Kunming as the host city for the match quite clear yesterday. Avramovic told Singaporean reporters that he was happy to advance past Malaysia to the third round, but was disappointed with having to play China 1,900 meters above sea level in Kunming, according to a report on Chinese sports website Titan*.
Criticism by opposing coaches of China using Kunming as a venue for World Cup qualifying matches is nothing new. In March 2008, Pim Verbeek, then head coach of Australia's national team, shared his thoughts on why Kunming had been selected as the site of a qualifying match between China and the Socceroos:
The 2008 match ended in a 0:0 draw, with Chinese fans leaving disappointed after China's Shao Jiayi (邵佳一), missed an 88th-minute spot kick, paving the way for China's failure to qualify for the 2010 finals, held in South Africa.
China has only reached the World Cup finals once, participating in the 2002 tournament held in Japan and South Korea. They were eliminated without scoring a single goal.
*Editor's note: Due to unavailability of Avramovic's original quotes, the above quotes have been translated from Chinese into English.
Singapore coach: Kunming World Cup qualifier a 'dirty trick'
Kunming is preparing to host a men's football World Cup qualifying match – and is once again being criticized as an unfair high-altitude venue by an opposing coach.
After defeating Laos 7:2 and 6:1 in recent matches in Kunming and Vientiane, respectively, China has advanced to the third round of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) tournament play and is scheduled to host a qualifying match on September 2 in Kunming.
China is aiming to be one of the four or five AFC teams to compete in the FIFA World Cup finals, which will be hosted by Brazil in 2014. The number of AFC representatives in Brazil will be determined after a playoff with the Oceania Football Confederation's top team.
Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic made his displeasure regarding the selection of Kunming as the host city for the match quite clear yesterday. Avramovic told Singaporean reporters that he was happy to advance past Malaysia to the third round, but was disappointed with having to play China 1,900 meters above sea level in Kunming, according to a report on Chinese sports website Titan*.
I feel fair play should be most important in a football match. As for the Chinese team, you don't really need to play these damned dirty tricks against us, do you? It's not that we're not able to play at high altitudes – if you were Bolivia, where the entire country is at a high altitude, then we'd have nothing to say.
But China is so big, you're going to hold one or two matches at altitude and afterward you'll hold other matches in other plateau cities, could it be that these kinds of cheap tricks are in terrible violation of the principles of fair play?
The displeased Avramovic, known as "Raddy" to Singapore fans, said he would present sea-level Singapore's complaint regarding Kunming to the acting president of the AFC, Zhang Jilong (张吉龙), who is from China.But China is so big, you're going to hold one or two matches at altitude and afterward you'll hold other matches in other plateau cities, could it be that these kinds of cheap tricks are in terrible violation of the principles of fair play?
We'll ask him directly, 'What are the principles of the AFC? As acting AFC president, you're going to use these kinds of dirty tricks? Will this be enough to get China into the next round?'
Criticism by opposing coaches of China using Kunming as a venue for World Cup qualifying matches is nothing new. In March 2008, Pim Verbeek, then head coach of Australia's national team, shared his thoughts on why Kunming had been selected as the site of a qualifying match between China and the Socceroos:
"They're not stupid. On purpose they play at 1,900 meters, on purpose they ask us to travel longer than normal ... that's why we play in a place nobody has heard of. But on the other hand, I think that is a mistake, because our players are very willing to show it doesn't matter at all."
The 2008 match ended in a 0:0 draw, with Chinese fans leaving disappointed after China's Shao Jiayi (邵佳一), missed an 88th-minute spot kick, paving the way for China's failure to qualify for the 2010 finals, held in South Africa.
China has only reached the World Cup finals once, participating in the 2002 tournament held in Japan and South Korea. They were eliminated without scoring a single goal.
*Editor's note: Due to unavailability of Avramovic's original quotes, the above quotes have been translated from Chinese into English.