As they land Down Under, Branko's boys face uphill battle

With the wounded and hungry Socceroos ready to strike at home, China's beleaguered men's soccer team is bracing itself for heavy fire, yet vows to at least put up a fight, in what is a crucial World Cup qualifier for both sides.

After opening its third-stage qualifying campaign for the 2026 Cup finals with two disappointing losses, Team China has arrived in Adelaide, south Australia, in desperate need of a morale booster. However, it has fallen right into the path of an equally frustrated, but much stronger, host that is determined to make a stand on home turf.

Another tough battle, or perhaps a beating, seems inevitable, but Team China, coached by Branko Ivankovic, has refused to give up fighting.

"No matter how big a challenge it is, we will do our best once we take to the field and will try to play the best possible game that we can," Croatian coach Ivankovic, who has been under fire from raging Chinese fans fuming over the two losses, said before the squad left from Shanghai for Adelaide on Saturday.

"Australia has been a regular participant in the World Cup finals, and it has fought into the knockout stages a couple of times. Of course, it will be the favorite against us. Our goal should be to focus on ourselves and deliver our best form in the moment."

Despite being the second highest-ranked team in Group C, Australia had to settle with only one point from a scoreless draw against Indonesia in the second round, following its shocking 1-0 defeat to Bahrain in its opener at home.

The group favorite now sits fifth in the six-team pool, propped up by bottom-placed China, which, as one of the worst performers among all 18 teams, has failed to win a single point in the current qualifying stage.

The Socceroos, ranked 25th in the FIFA rankings, are motivated to make a statement in Thursday's match at the Adelaide Oval against the 91st-ranked Chinese.

"The team maybe looked a little bit flat. I don't think it'll take too much to change the way we play," said the Socceroos' new head coach Tony Popovic, who has taken the reins from long-term manager Graham Arnold, who resigned last month following the team's poor start to the third stage.

"We will do it with energy, we will do it with desire, and we will do it with a speed and dynamic type of play that I think the players will enjoy."

Seeking a return to the FIFA marquee tournament after its sole appearance in 2002, Team China was given a harsh lesson on how big the gap between it and Asia's best has become after host Japan, the continental leader with a No 16 world ranking, thrashed Ivankovic's men 7-0 on Sept 5 in the most lopsided win against China in the pair's history.

A second match five days later at home did little to assuage the heavy criticism, after China squandered an early 1-0 lead and one-man advantage to lose 2-1 to a 10-man Saudi Arabia in Dalian, Liaoning province. The result further stoked the ire of the team's furious fans, who have since launched a petition to fire Ivankovic and his coaching crew.

The job facing the 70-year-old Croatian, who used to coach in the Chinese Super League, has got even tougher, with several key players, including starting striker Wu Lei and Brazilian-born forward Alan, withdrawing from the lineup for the Aussie encounter due to injuries.

Wu, Team China's most prolific scorer with five goals already during this qualifying campaign, has to stay in Shanghai to nurse a rib injury he sustained in a CSL game just before Ivankovic's men assembled last week.

China's center-back Jiang Guangtai, also known as Tyias Browning in his native England, expressed confidence, though, suggesting that Team China shouldn't be written off just yet.

"We have a job to do. We need to win," said Jiang, a former Everton player and England youth international who chose to represent Team China through his grandfather's family heritage.

"It was a long journey, but we have a day to recover. We all have a clear goal, and we must focus on the game," the 29-year-old defender said of the long flight to Adelaide.

Jiang, who plays for CSL club Shanghai Port, had been doubtful for the match after sustaining an injury during his side's 3-0 defeat to South Korea's Pohang Steelers in the Asian Champions League last week. However, he confirmed that he is fit to play.

"I've had time to recover and, physically, I feel fine now," he said.

Chinese defender Gao Zhunyi admitted that the combined absences of Wu and Alan would take a toll on the squad's offensive threat, but reiterated that a collective effort will help make a difference.

"Of course we will miss them on the front line, but some young players will get the chance to prove themselves on the field and they are eager and motivated to play even harder," he said.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn