By Wang Wei

Saudi Arabian players celebreate after they score a goal against China in an international friendly match yesterday. Photo: CFP

Saudi Arabia brushed aside China 4-1 to hand head coach Gao Hongbo his first loss in an international friendly football match in Tianjin yesterday.

The match was the third and final game of a series of three friendly matches that China participated in. Gao’s squad earned a 1-1 draw against world No.2 Germany and notched China’s first victory over Iran’s team in 15 years, winning 1-0.

Gao tried placing Zheng Zhi as a central defender to reinforce his young team’s defense, but Saudi Arabia’s striker Yasser Al-Qahtani, who was unmarked in the box when picking a well-time pass from the right side, knocked in a glancing header inside the top-right corner in the seventh minute of play to open the scoring.

It was the first time the Chinese national squad had fallen behind in a match in the three-game friendly series.

Saudi Arabia enjoyed their possession of the ball in China’s half court and opened up scoring opportunities. Zheng Zhi dramatically cleared one near-goal by midfielder Abdoh Otaif in the 25th minute.

Gao said in his inaugural news conference as head of the Chinese national team that Spanish giant Barcelona, which won a historic treble this season by winning the La Liga, King’s Cup and the European Champions Cup, was the best example for the Chinese team to follow. But Saudi Arabia seems a more realistic target for the Chinese team to try and match before it takes on Barca.

Gao shuffled the lineup early as the Chinese team struggled against the Saudia Arabian team in front of a home crowd of 29,000 fans. He adjusted China’s midfielders, bringing up Yu Hai in place of Wang Xinxin in the 29th minute. Within 5 minutes of the change, midfielder Jiang Ning pulled China back on level terms at 1-1 with a fierce left-foot effort after stealing the ball in front of the Saudi box on a defender’s error.

Motivated Chinese players roared back after that, putting huge pressure on the Saudi’s defense and nearly taking the lead in the 38th minute.

Midfielder Zhao Xuri’s first attempt hit the post and his follow-up was tipped away by Saudi Arabian goalkeeper.

But a lack of defensive concentration gave the Saudi team its second goal after midfielder Mohammed Noor found himself wide open in the box and headed the past helpless keeper Yang Jun in a free kick by his teammates in the 43rd minute.

Saudi Arabia extended its lead to two goals in the 72nd minute through counterattack, though China had sought to correct its course during the interval by making several substitutions. Forward Naif Hazazi broke free through the middle and kicked home an angle shot into the bottom-right corner – no keeper else on the world would made a stop on that.

Saudi Arabia further humiliated the home team with a penalty kick with 3 minutes to go before the final whistle. Keeper Yang Jun was assessed a foul after tripping Nasser Al-Shamrani when the Saudi striker tried to slip past him. Al-Shamrani converted the penalty to finalize the score at 4-1.

Gao and his new Chinese national team, who already had their eyes on the 2014 World Cup, still have a long way to go before they could finally become a real Asian powerhouse.