China at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games football tournament →

China at the 1988 Asian Cup (Doha, Qatar): 

Group stage: 
04.12.88: Syria 3-0 (Sheng, Yuxin 2)
06.12.88: Bahrain 1-0 (Xiaowen)
10.12.88: Kuwait 2-2 (Lin 2)
12.12.88: Saudi Arabia 0-1

semi-final: 
14.12.88: South Korea 1-2 (extra time. 0-0 after regulation time) (goal by Chao)

third-place play-off: 
17.12.88: Iran 0-0 (lost 3-0 on penalties)

friendly
12.02.89: Hong Kong (a) 0-0
Line-up: 

World Cup Qualification – first group stage

AFC – Group 5

Match 1
23.02.89: Bangladesh (h) 2-0
Goals: Wang Baoshan (51′), Mai Chao (57′)
Line-up: Huikang – Xiuquan, Yijun, Sheng (Xiauwen 66), Chao – Bo, Yaodong, Yuxin, Ju – Baoshan, Haiguang (Lin 78)

Match 2
28.02.89: Thailand (a) 3-0
Goals: Tang Yaodong (55′), Mai Lin 2 (62′, 79′)
Line-up: Huikang – Xiuquan, Yijun, Sheng, Chao – Bo, Yaodong, Yuxin (Qunli 55), Ju – Baoshan, Haiguang (Lin h-t)

Match 3
04.03.89: Bangladesh (a) 2-0
Goals: Wang Baoshan (23′), Mai Lin (62′)
Line-up: Huikang – Xiuquan, Yijun, Sheng, Chao – Bo, Yaodong, Yuxin, Ju – Baoshan (Lin h-t), Haiguang

friendly
10.05.89: Japan (a) 2-2
Goals: Sasaki (own goal), Zhang Xiaowen
Line-up: Huikang – Xiuquan, Yijun, Sheng, Xiaowen (Yaodong 66) – Bo, Yuxin, Chao, Ju – Lin, Haiguang (Baoshan 72)

friendly 
13.05.89: Japan (a) 0-2
Line-up: Huikang – Xiuquan, Yijun, Sheng, Chao – Bo, Yaodong (Xiaowen h-t), Yuxin, Ju – Lin, Haiguang (Baoshan h-t)

Match 4
15.07.89: Iran (h) 2-0
Goals: Liu Haiguang (73′), Zhang Xiaowen (87′)
Line-up: Huikang – Xiuquan, Yijun, Sheng, Xiaowen – Bo, Yaodong, Chao, Ju – Baoshan (Haiguang 43), Lin

Match 5
22.07.89: Iran (a) 2-3
Goals: Mai Chao (64′ pen.), Ma Lin (66′)
Line-up (4-4-1-1): Huikang – Xiuquan (c), Yijun, Sheng, Xiaowen – Bo, Yaodong (Qunli 58), Chao, Ju – Lin (Shengqiao 80) – Haiguang

Match 6
29.07.89: Thailand (h) 2-0
Goals: Jia Xiuquan (2′), Ma Lin (4′)
Line-up: Huikang – Xiuquan, Yijun, Sheng, Xiaowen – Bo (Liqiang h-t), Yaodong, Chao, Ju – Lin, Haiguang

Table
1. China 6 5 0 1 13-3 10
2. Iran 6 5 0 1 12-5 10
3. Bangladesh 6 1 0 5 4-9 2
4. Thailand 6 1 0 5 2-14 2

China progress through to the final group stage

World Cup Qualification – final group stage

(in Singapore)

Match 1
12.10.89: Saudi Arabia 2-1
Goals: Mai Chao 2 (63′ pen, 70′)
Line-up: Bin – Xiuquan, Yijun, Sheng, Ju, Bo, Yaodong, Chao, Qunli, Yuxin (Lin 84), Haiguang

Match 2
17.10.89: United Arab Emirates 1-2
Goal: Tang Yaodong (61′)
Line-up: Bin – Xiuquan, Yijun, Sheng, Ju, Bo, Yaodong (Lin 72), Chao, Qunli, Yuxin (Liqiang 82), Haiguang

Match 3
20.10.89: South Korea 0-1
Line-up: Bin – Ju, Yijun, Sheng, Xiaowen, Bo, Yaodong, Chao, Qunli, Yuxin (Baoshan 77), Haiguang

Match 4
24.10.89: North Korea 1-0
Goal: Xie Yuxin (83′)
Line-up: Huikang – Xiuquan, Yijun, Sheng, Xiaowen (Yuxin 74), Bo, Yaodong, Chao, Ju, Lin, Haiguang (Baoshan 74)

Match 5
28.10.89: Qatar 1-2
Goal: Ma Lin (76′)
Line-up: Huikang – Bo, Yijun, Xiuquan, Xiaowen, Yuxin, Yaodong, Chao, Ju, Lin, Haiguang (Qunli 64)

China finished fourth in the group standings, and didn’t progress through to Italia ’90. Had they won that final fixture against Qatar by 1-0, and they led until three minutes from time, they’d have finished second on goals scored. 

Final standings
1. South Korea 5 3 2 0 5-1 8
2. United Arab Emirates 5 1 4 0 4-3 6
3. Qatar 5 1 3 1 4-5 5
4. China 5 2 0 3 5-6 4
5. Saudi Arabia 5 1 2 2 4-5 4
6. North Korea 5 1 1 3 2-4 3

South Korea and United Arab Emirates progress through to the World Cup 

Conclusion

With a settled manager and team, China came into the World Cup qualification first phase looking to make progress, and they knew that in order to do so, they would have to fight it out with Iran for the top spot. The pair had only a couple of months prior to the start of the qualification battled it out in the third place play-off in the Asian Cup, where China had ultimately lost on penalties after a scoreless draw. 

Manager Gao Fengwen had kept the same squad together for some time, and the majority of his players had featured at the Olympic Games football tournament in South Korea nearly half a year before the World Cup qualification begun. They had gained invaluable international experience having come up against a very good West Germany side, to whom they lost 3-0, although they had done well in the opening half an hour, as well as a decent Swedish outfit, who toppled the Chinese by 2-0. Ultimately, China had got their first and only point as they drew 0-0 with Tunisia. 

This Chinese team was one which had plenty of technically gifted players in their midst, but they struggled somewhat with the more physical aspects of the game. If they could make use of their technical ability and keep possession in the difficult matches against Iran, they would surely prove to be a match to them over the two matches. 

They begun comfortably enough, as had been expected, by accumulating a 7-0 goal difference following the pair of matches against Bangladesh and the away fixture in Thailand. Then came the home fixture against what turned out to be a depleted Iranian side due to disciplinary circumstances in their ranks. China took advantage and notched two late goals to triumph by 2-0 at home, something which really gave them the initiative, as they had a superior goal difference to the Iranians. However, in the return fixture in Tehran, they found themselves three goals down early in the second half, and had that scoreline remained through to full time, China would have needed a big win against Thailand in their final outing. They picked themselves up and came back to reduce the deficit to 3-2 by full time, something which set them in good stead for their final qualifier. 

Two goals in the opening four minutes against Thailand was all China needed to progress through to the next phase of qualification, where they would meet the other five group winners in a round-robin competition on neutral soil in Singapore. 

Question with regards to China’s first phase of qualification: Had they lost 3-0 in Iran and then won 3-0 at home to Thailand, both China and Iran would’ve had 10 points and a goal difference of 12-3. What criteria would’ve come into play in order to separate the pair? They had both won each their home leg against the other, although Iran would have had a total scoreline of 3-2 to China’s 2-3. So – would this have meant that Iran would’ve progressed through to the next stage at China’s expense? Yes, it would have. 

In the final round of qualification, the contest of the six initial group winners, played out on neutral terrain in Singapore over a 16 days period in October 1989, China did terrifically in their first match as they turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win against the fancied Saudi Arabians courtesy of two second half goals by one of their biggest stars, Mai Chao. The 25 year old from Guangzhou, who featured in midfield, first netted a penalty, then scored the winner on 70 minutes. China had set themselves up nicely for progress. 

Coming into game 2 against United Arab Emirates, China must have been seen as favourites, even if they had arrived in Singapore with their leading scorer from the first group stage, Ma Lin, possibly recovering from an injury. With five goals in six qualifiers earlier in the year, he must have been a big miss, as he only was brought on as a substitute for their first two matches, and then wasn’t seen at all in their third outing. They went ahead against UAE on the hour, with a goal from midfielder Yaodong, but remarkably stumbled in the closing stages, conceding twice in the final three minutes of the game to stunningly go down by a 2-1 scoreline. 

Subsequently, China were up against another group favourite, namely South Korea, and on this occasion were even bereft of their defensive linchpin and captain Jia Xiuquan. They lost to the only goal of the game midway through the second half, and so only had a tally of two points from their first three matches. However, the group remained to tight and with so few goals scored altogether that a win against the other Korean representative, North, in the following match meant that the Chinese had every chance of qualifying for Italia ’90 before the final round of matches. It had been a late matchwinning goal from Xie Yuxin against their ideological brethren, and thus China’s record read 2-0-2 4-4 going into the last day. 

Handily placed in third position, a point behind United Arab Emirates, China knew that a win against Qatar would likely see them through to the World Cup, as UAE were facing South Korea on the final day, a South Korean outfit which had yet to concede a single goal throughout their qualification campaign. Ma Lin had been restored to the starting line-up for the win against North Korea, when also skipper Xiuquan had returned to the fold, but for the decider against Qatar, centre-back Gao Sheng was absent. It is possible Xiuquan filled in alongside Yijun in the heart of the defence. Lin scored his first and only goal of the series a quarter of an hour from time, and at that point China were heading for the World Cup, as UAE were drawing with South Korea. All they needed to do was hold on to the lead…however, their ability to concede late came back to haunt them like it had done in the game against United Arab Emirates. Qatar, like their fellow Arabs, turned the game on its head with two late goals to put China out. What a sickener it must have been to a rather promising Chinese outfit.