Chinese soccer down to historic low in Asiad  

The Incheon Asian Games witnessed the worst ever result for Chinese women's football team since 1990.

The Chinese women's team, who had reached at least the semifinal stage in each of the past Asian Games since women's football was added to the Asiad in 1990, lost to the DPR Korea 1-0 in the quarterfinals.

Chinese women's football team had vowed to win gold in Incheon. A 0-0 draw against world champion Japan in their opening match boosted their confidence. The loss to DPRK, however, smashed their hopes.

Hao Wei, head coach of the women's team, said the loss was due to poor scoring capabilities.

Meanwhile, China's men's under-23 team went down 2-0 to Thailand in the quarterfinals.

"Obviously, we were no match for Thailand," said Cai Zhenhua, president of the Chinese Foootball Association. "Victory has seemed just like a dream. I think that it's not strange that a team like this loses to Vietnam."

The 53-year-old Cai predicted that it would take 10 years time for China to return back to the elite level in Asia.

"We need to be patient," he said. "We need to do some solid work in the next 10 years to narrow the gap between us and other Asian top teams."

In that process China needs world-class coaches, said Cai.

"I am not blaming our coaches. But the level of the coaching staff of the men's team is lagging far behind the world class. They cannot even compare with Chinese coaches from other sports," he said.

"Chinese football has hit a new low. But we cannot feel emotionally numb. We must take reforms and try to find a way suitable for the development of China. In 10 years time, I hope we can see our efforts bear some fruit," Cai said.

China's best performance at the Asian Games men's soccer tournament was in 1994 in Hiroshima, Japan, when they finished runners-up to Uzbekistan.