The game will present China with plenty of problems – Iran are the top ranked Asian team in the world, while China sit eighth – but Guangzhou Evergrande pair Huang Bowen and Li Xuepeng believe that they have a chance.
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Iran, coached by former Manchester United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz, took maximum points in their first match with a 2-0 victory over Qatar.
China is ranked 78th in the world by Federation Internationale de Football Association and are a clear underdog against the Lions of Persia, but Gao is not fazed by their disadvantage. Wu is 26 years old.
South Korea hit a speed bump in their bid to reach a 10th World Cup as they were held to a goalless draw on Tuesday against a Syrian side that is unable to play at home due to the country’s long-running, bloody conflict.
“If we can play against Iran with the same spirit as the last part of the last game then we can get a good result”, Gao said. The third-placed teams of each group will play a home-and-away series and the victor will advance to the intercontinental play-off against a team from CONCACAF. A victory in China would give the Iranian team a big edge over one of the more hard teams in the tournament due to the goal difference.
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“As everyone knows, though it will just be the second round of games in the World Cup qualifiers, every game matters as a final, so we will give our best”.
