Before the 2015 AFC Asian Cup kicked off, Alain Perrin talked about some of the biggest challenges during his first year as head coach of the Chinese national team. At the top of his list was making his players tougher.
“I want them to be aggressive,” the Frenchman told Fifa.com. “They are polite lads but you can’t be polite on the pitch.”
Perrin cut his managerial teeth in the France’s fiercely contested Ligue 1 with clubs like Marseille and Lyon. He also had an ill-fated eight month stint in charge of Portsmouth when they were in the English Premier League in 2005.
But his impact since taking over a struggling China side last March – they would only scrape into the Asian Cup on goal difference as the best third-placed team – has been remarkable. After victories in their opening two matches against Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan in Australia, Team Dragon are through to the knockout stages for the first time in 11 years.
They need to defeat the already eliminated North Korea in Canberra on Sunday to ensure top spot in Group B. Either two-time champions South Korea or host nation Australia await in the quarterfinals.
Against 2011 semifinalists Uzbekistan on Wednesday night, China showed true grit to battle back from a 1-0 half-time deficit to register a 2-1 victory in Brisbane.
Perrin has won praise for his bold selections. He left out two of the best defenders in the Chinese Super League – Li Xuepeng and Feng Xiaoting – and deployed a brand-new back four, putting several players out of position.
Yet, they’ve conceded just a single goal against two of Asia’s better attacking sides.
For the Uzbekistan match, Perrin dropped two of his wingers to set up a more compact 4-1-4-1 formation, reinstating Guangzhou Evergrande striker Gao Lin who he’d surprisingly left out of the opening game against Saudi Arabia.
And it was veteran Gao’s clever flick in the 55th minute that provided the assist for the equaliser against Uzbekistan, scored by Wu Xi. The goal came after a crisp build-up that underlined the improvements that Perrin has made in his 10 months in charge.
His second half tactical change proved to be a masterstroke. Sun Ke scored a stunning individual goal – dribbling from near halfway and unleashing a powerful right-footed shot – to give China a 2-1 lead just two minutes after coming on. It turned out to be the winning goal.
Remembering that the Chinese failed to get out of the group stages at the two previous Asian Cups after winning their opening match, it was imperative that Perrin’s side put in a strong performance in their second group game.
The key to the China’s opening victory against the Saudis on Saturday was the penalty save by Shandong Luneng goalkeeper Wang Dalei – earning just his 12th cap on his 26th birthday – that helped keep a clean sheet in Melbourne.
When he was at his previous club, Shanghai Shenhua, Wang was mentored by former England and Tottenham keeper Ian Walker. But against the Saudis, Wang sought the advice of 12-year-old ballboy Stephan White who correctly advised him to dive to the left to save Naif Hazazi’s spot kick.
He stopped the spot kick with his legs and 19 minutes later, China scored the only goal of the game through a deflected free kick by winger Yu Hai.
The ballboy was mobbed by Chinese fans and media, invited to attend one of the team’s training sessions and presented with a signed jersey from Wang.
Facing Uzbekistan, Wang’s luck deserted him in the first half.
A wicked deflection saw him concede his first goal of the tournament after a speculative 35-metre speculative effort from Odil Ahmedov flicked off a lunging Chinese defender and looped cruelly over Wang into the top right corner.
Wang had a quieter second half but did get down low to make an important save from Sardor Rashidov just before China took the lead.
Once again, Perrin’s selection gamble paid off. He opted for Wang as his number-one despite having the older and more experienced Guangzhou Evergrande keeper Zeng Cheng – with 30 caps – in his 23-man squad.
Since making the final of the 2004 Asian Cup on home soil – two years after their one and only World Cup finals appearance – China’s footballers have achieved very little on the international stage.
But thanks to Perrin, Wang and an Aussie ball boy, the gloom over Chinese football is slowly lifting.
Their gritty and aggressive side are becoming one of the success stories of the 2015 Asian Cup.
Jason Dasey is Senior Editor of ESPN FC, Borneo’s most popular football website which has now launched a Southeast Asia edition. Twitter: @ESPNFC