For World Cup newcomers China, the experience is more important
than the result, a FIFA official said in Seoul Tuesday.
In
their first World Cup finals after 44 years of waiting, China lost
bitterly to Costa Rica 2-0 in its first game of the Cup Tuesday
afternoon.
But Keith Cooper, FIFA Director of Co-ordination, believes the
defeat was necessary for the young Chinese team to develop.
"You can only gain experience by taking steps,'' said Cooper.
A
convincing run of 12 victories, one draw and one defeat throughout
the Asian qualifiers enabled China to reach the World Cup for the
first time last October.
"When you get to the World Cup, it gets tough. Even Costa Rica,
which is perhaps not a world champion team, have players who are
playing at high-level and competitive leagues. That is valuable
experience,'' said Cooper.
Many believed that China'scoach, Bora Milutinovic, dubbed "The
Miracle Wonder'' for guiding Mexico, Costa Rica, the United States
and Nigeria into the second round of the World Cup finals, would
work his magic again with his fifth team to lead China beyond the
group stage where they face Brazil, Costa Rica and Turkey.
"Bora worked very well, very very well,'' said Cooper, who also
serves as FIFA spokesman. "Bora knows how to organize his team.
Bora's strength has always been to organize, to motivate.''
But Cooper emphasized that a coach couldn't decide everything.
"He (Bora) is not a magician, he is only the coach.'' he said.
China's captain Ma Mingyu blamed a momentary lapse of focus by his
team for the 2-0 defeat.
"We played to the best of our ability. We needed to stay focused
for 90 minutes, but we lost it in the second half,'' said the
highly experienced midfielder.
Ma
said Milutinovic -- nicknamed "Milu'' by the Chinese media -- had
specifically warned his team not to let their guard down against
the skillful Central Americans.
Nearly 20,000 Chinese fans were watching the game in the Gwangju
stadium, compared to about 1,000 Costa Rican soccer fans.
Meanwhile in China, the tens of millions of football fans, well
used to disappointment, shrugged off the defeat as their team went
down to Costa Rica.
"They performed a little bit better than in the past,'' said lawyer
Zhang Chaodong, one of the 3,000 people watching the game on a
giant screen outside Beijing's Workers Stadium.
"Their chances are small against Brazil and Turkey,'' he said after
the mid-afternoon match that held China's only realistic hope of
points.
Many employers in China bowed to the inevitable and gave people
time off to watch the game. Bars and offices were jam-packed.
Some universities and high schools in China called off afternoon
classes to let students and staff watch China's debut.
The floor of the city's stock exchange emptied and trade volume
plunged to a mere whimper as brokers and investors abandoned their
computer terminals, they said.
Even Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao, in his routine
Tuesday afternoon news conference, rued having to be there.
"I'm very interested in football and I feel it's a great pity to
have to work here today and miss thematch,'' he said.
(China
Daily June 5, 2002)