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China took an impressive comeback victory over Uzbekistan 2-1 to advance to the Asian Cup knockout stage as Group B winners at the Brisbane Stadium here on Wednesday.
China has never had such nice performance for more than 30 years in the Asian Cup history, as they sealed the last eight birth only after the first two group matches. In the 2004 edition where China went into the final on home soil, they started with a 2-2 draw with Bahrain and qualified for the next stage after three games.
China has sealed the first place of the group as they beat both Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan for full six points, and neither of the teams could surpass China even it loses to DPR Korea in the last match. China will meet either Australia or South Korea in the quarter-finals, as Group B leaders will meet Group A runners-up.
Odil Akhmedov opened the scoring for the Uzbekis in the 22nd minute with a deflected poweful shot after rounding midfielder Wu Xi before the edge of the penalty box and his shot hit a sliding Wu Xi to bounce into the far corner of the net.
Wu got a redemption equaliser on 55 minutes with a stylish half volley inside the penalty area after Gao Lin's irregular pass at a tight angle at the goal line following leftback Jiang Zhipeng's left wing cross.
Substitute midfielder Sun Ke bent a classic shot from the edge of the box in the 68th minute to seal victory. The skillful player took the goal just one minute after he was brought on by coach Alain Perrin.
After a somewhat lucky win over Saudi Arabia in their group opener, China tried to prove they can beat strong rivals with real strength in their second battle. Against the Green Falcons, Yu Hai netted home with a late deflected freekick and keeper Wang Dalei saved a penalty after asking a ball boy which direction should he dive and followed his instruction. Perrin admitted that his team were lucky for that game.
The French boss changed two players and maintained the 4231 formation. China took the upper hand in the first 20 minutes with some fierce attacks in the wings. But after Akhmedov's opener, the Uzbekis took control gradually with some nice organization in the midfield.
China rallied after the interval with the introduction of attacking midfielder Hao Junmin to replace Yu Hai. There were better combinations upfront and after Sun Ke came onto the pitch, China began to exert their attacking power.
Zhang Linpeng wasted an opportunity in the 75th minute when his volley went high over the crossbar following Sun Ke's pass.
Uzbeki coach Mirdjalal Kasimov sent on several attackers in the second half, but didn't create real goal scoring chances as their opponents took the rhythm of the match.
