China Olympic soccer executive coach Hao targeting a ticket to Tokyo

Source: Xinhua| 2019-12-13 21:06:47|Editor: huaxia
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BEIJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's Olympic soccer executive coach Hao Wei aims to secure a berth to Tokyo despite his team being allocated into a "group of death" in the upcoming qualifiers next month.

The 43-year-old Hao, who was appointed to replace head coach Guus Hiddink in September, will lead Team China to fight for one of the three Asian places for Tokyo 2020 at the 2020 Under-23 Asian Cup, which will kick off in Thailand on Jan. 8.

"I definitely want to qualify for the Olympics," said Hao, whose team will take on two Asian soccer powerhouses South Korea, Iran and defending champion Uzbekistan in Group C of the 16-team tournament.

In order to fulfill the ambition, Hao and his players need to progress from the tough group and at least enter the semifinal. "The could-be-determining third place match of the tournament scheduled on Jan. 25, which is the date of Chinese New Year. How could we celebrate the holiday if we can't accomplish the mission?" he added.

Hao called up a 34-man training camp last month. The former head coach of Chinese women's soccer team admitted that he doesn't have a large range of choice in terms of player selection.

"I planned to make a preliminary 50-player roster initially, but later found out that my options are limited to less than 40," noted Hao. "We don't have a big enough talent pool in China, which is the current situation of our U-23 players."

The young leader of the team also expressed worries after the team lost to Syria 1-0 in the Zhuhai four-nation tournament on Thursday. "The Chinese Super League and the CFA Cup concluded in early December, therefore many of our players haven't trained much together. So they made mistakes in the competitions, which I could understand."

"The following three weeks are crucial for the team to be really united. I want them to play smart and improve their understanding of the sport. This is not only for the Olympic qualifiers, but also for their future," Hao said, noting that the players should have the confidence to be the strong contenders in tournament. "I will execute my training plan from the attacking play."

"Obviously I can feel pressure because I want to do my job well. I had no hesitation to take the position despite there were only less than four months from qualifiers," Hao added. "I believe in my team, and that's where possibility comes from."

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