China’s men’s national football team lost 3-2 to South Korea in the opening football game of the 2008 East Asian Championship in Chongqing, China. China’s coach, Vladimir Petrovic deflected criticism from the local media, while one of the team’s captain, Li Weifeng chose to focus on the March 26th up-coming qualifier for the 2010 World Cup. Despite the men’s loss to Korea, China’s women’s team successfully beat Korea 3-2, as reported by FIFA. From AFP:
China coach Vladimir Petrovic has blamed the media for putting too much pressure his squad after they lost 3-2 to regional giants South Korea in their East Asian championship opener.
“Recently, there has been this saying going around for our players that we haven’t had any winning result (against South Korea) for 30 years,” he said after Saturday’s game.
“This really has given our players a little bit pressure.”
When reminded by a reporter that he also cited pressure after a 1-1 away draw with Asian champions Iraq in a World Cup qualifier earlier this month, the 52-year Serb hit back: “The pressure did not come from us but from outside.”
