CHINA

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China’s qualification to the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, which will be the East Asian nation’s 10th participation in the tournament, was the perfect fillip for Chinese fans who suffered the disappointment of their country’s failure to reach the final qualifying round of the 2010 World Cup.




It wasn’t the most auspicious of starts for China who were beaten 3-2 in their Group D opener by Syria but things turned around in their first home match a week later when the Chinese put ASEAN champions Vietnam to the sword, running out 6-1 winners in Zhejiang.



Back-to-back wins over Lebanon, who had to come through a two-legged preliminary round match against the Maldives, guaranteed their ticket to Qatar and all that remained to be settled was to see whether or not they could beat fellow qualifiers Syria to top spot in the table.



But in their penultimate match China couldn’t break down a resolute Syrian defence and were held to a goalless draw at home to remain a point behind the West Asians before the Chinese ended their campaign on a positive note with a 2-1 win in Vietnam.