Sat, November 12, 2011
DOHA, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- China's 2014 World Cup hopes were nearly smashed after conceding a goal in the stoppage time, losing to Iraq 1-0 in a crucial game of the Asian zone qualifying round here on Friday.
The defeat has actually hammered the last nail in the coffin of Jose Antonio Camacho's side, who collected only three points from four matches in Group A.
They now need a miracle to save them from elimination. They will have to win their last two games, against Singapore on Nov. 15 and Jordan on Feb. 29 next year, by big margins and at the same time Iraq lose both, to Jordan and Singapore.
Jordan, who will play Singapore later, lead the group with nine pointsby winning all their first three games. Iraq are second with nine from three wins and one loss while Singapore are the fourth after being defeated for three times.
The winners and runners-up of the five groups will be drawn into two pools for the round-robin fourth stage, with the eventual top two in each section earning a ticket to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
