Angry Haan rejects runners-up medal

'The first goal was a free-kick for us. The second was handball. The third was a foul on Sun Jihai,' says China coach

China's Dutch coach Arie Haan refused to collect his loser's medal after his side were beaten 3-1 by Japan in the Asian Cup final.

The Dutch coach stayed away from the awards ceremony, angry not only that Koji Nakata's 65th-minute handled goal was allowed, but also that free-kicks were not given in China's favour in the buildup to Japan's other two goals - a 22nd-minute Takashi Fukunishi effort and a 90th-minute breakaway from Keiji Tamada.

'I didn't feel ready to take this medal. I was too disappointed with what happened,' said Haan, who made a brief attempt not to break his rule and complain about the referee before launching into the performance of Kuwaiti match official Saad Kameel.

'The first goal was a free-kick for us. The second was handball. The third was a foul on Sun Jihai. I'm not disappointed with my team. I feel sorry we lost the way we did, because I think the final for us should have had another ending, not the way it finished. That is something I cannot accept.'

Haan's reaction was instantly condemned by the Asian Football Confederation. 'Not to receive his medal is an act of disrespect to China's national team, to China and to the AFC,' said general secretary Peter Velappan. 'As the national coach of China he should demonstrate more sporting spirit and be a good sporting loser. He must learn to accept the fact that China lost to a much better Japanese team.'

After a fairly uneventful start, China were caught out by a simple free-kick, sent deep beyond the far post to Takayuki Suzuki, whose header back cut Liu Yunfei out of the equation, and left Fukunishi to head home.