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Zico rings the changes for China clash
The Brazilian assured the members of the team that lost to DPR Korea that they would be considered for recalls for the final game against South Korea on Saturday and that he was confident the new recruits would not weaken the quality of the performance. "This is an important tournament for Japan so I want to have my best team available," he said. "The new line up has been well motivated and the spirit is good and I'm sure they will not dishonour the national team jersey." Meanwhile, China coach Zhu Guanghu will have young striker Gao Lin available for the selection, despite the red card he received in his side's 1-1 draw with South Korea. Gao was mistakenly sent off by referee Yuichi Nishimura but, after a review of the match tapes, official quashed his expulsion and instead handed captain Li Weifeng a two-match suspension. The former Everton defender escaped punishment for pushing You Kyoung-yeoul in the face in the sixth minute - the offense Gao was sent off for – but later was dismissed for two bookable offences. The loss of Li adds to China's defensive woes as Zhu is already without Du Wei, who is currently in Scotland on trial with Celtic, while Feng Xiaoting is unavailable due to a strained hamstring. Despite this, China's assistant coach Xu Tao was in an upbeat mood. "Japan is a very strong team, both from the FIFA rankings and from the
ability of the players," he said. "Both teams are missing some key players who
play in Europe but we will try to play a wonderful game. The strongest team
doesn't always win the game so we will try our best."
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