World Cup qualifiers: China’s soccer fans satisfied despite narrow loss to regional rivals South Korea
Own goal by China’s captain gets ball rolling for South Korea but visitors stage late comeback in Seoul
China’s narrow 3-2 defeat to South Korea in a World Cup qualifier in Seoul on Thursday night was “acceptable”, according to the head of the country’s official fan club.
Jian Mangen, head of the “Team Dragon” supporters’ club, led a contingent of more than 3,000 Chinese fans to Seoul for the match.
Jian said more than 1,000 other supporters made the trip from China, and another 5,000 or so fans in the stadium were Chinese living in South Korea.
He said the atmosphere in the 60,000-seat Seoul World Cup Stadium was superb but the national team’s effort “just acceptable”.
I thought before the match that it would not be too bad if it was a draw, or anything but a heavy loss
Jian said China’s overall standard of play did not match South Korea’s. “That’s why I thought before the match that it would not be too bad if it was a draw, or anything but a heavy loss,” he said.