Team China ready to take on Australia ahead of crucial World Cup qualifier

Outranked, overpowered and shorthanded — Team China, however, will approach its crucial World Cup qualifier against the mighty Socceroos aggressively and try to stay in the race on home soil.

With two starting defenders sidelined by injuries and another two key players suspended, the Chinese men's national team will have to dig harder and go the extra mile should it hope to pull off a huge challenge of scoring at least a point from the red-hot Team Australia, known as the Socceroos, in a high-stakes 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Hangzhou on Tuesday night.

The bottom-ranked team in Group C of the third-stage qualifiers will have its already slim hopes of making it to the next phase, as a third- or fourth-ranked finisher in the current group, almost diminished if it loses to Australia again in the Zhejiang provincial capital, following its first-leg 3-1 loss to the host in southern Australian city Adelaide.

With its back against the wall, Team China remains positive that it has what it takes to keep its qualifying hopes alive even against long odds facing the in-form Socceroos, who just thrashed another underdog Indonesia 5-1 four days ago.

"We are in a competitive group. Australia is a strong team and a regular World Cup finalist. They are physically strong and fast, while we will miss four of our starters tomorrow," Team China head coach Branko Ivankovic said through an interpreter at the pre-match news conference on Monday.

"We are facing a tough obstacle but we are prepared. We have run a few drills with some replacements and we are confident for our remaining players who will play tomorrow.

"Each and every point from the qualifying tournament is critically important and we will stick to our attacking style of game to go for the points.

"We will also remind our players to play smart and play cautiously as well," said Ivankovic, whose men lost to another higher-ranked group rival Saudi Arabia 1-0 in Riyadh on Thursday.

Team China is now tied at six ranking points with fellow minnows Indonesia and Bahrain in the six-team Group C but struggles dead last, due to deficits in goal difference.

After hosting Australia, Team China will have to go all out in its remaining two games, against Indonesia on the road on June 5 before facing Bahrain at home five days later, to try to finish higher than its final two rivals to squeeze into the next qualifying stage.

Team China's newly recruited playmaker Serginho, a Brazilian-born attacking midfielder with CSL club Beijing Guo'an, is expected to play an X-factor in Tuesday's game after the 30-year-old was kept on the bench throughout the whole match against the Saudis in his first Chinese international call-up last week.

"We appreciate very much for the CFA for helping Serginho compete the documents to join us as soon as possible," said Ivankovic, who has counted heavily on another naturalized player Tyias Browning, an England-born defender, in defense in previous matches.

"He's not played an official match for so long, so he needs some extra time to get ready physically," Ivankovic said of Serginho's conditions.

"We hope he could provide us with much needed help, though. We will try to maximize his ability should he play."

Browning, who goes by Chinese name Jiang Guangtai on Ivankovic's squad, suffered a muscle strain early in the game against Saudis and is expected to be sidelined for a month.

Riding on its momentum of the biggest win so far in the qualifiers, Australia is cautious against China.

Its head coach Tony Popovic said the Socceroos expect nothing but a very tough game against the host with about 70,000 Chinese fans cheering against his players at the Olympic Center Stadium in Hangzhou.

"We saw a few changes with the structure of their team but their strength remains the same, well organized and disciplined team, which showed against Saudi Arabia," Popovic said of his impression on Team China on Monday.

"We know what we expect tomorrow, there will be no surprises. A very difficult match is what we expected and it should be that way in a Cup qualifier."

After a slow start in the current qualifying stage, the Socceroos have built a thin edge ahead of the rest of the group, trailing runaway leader Japan at second place. A victorious result on Tuesday will further cement its current top-two position to keep the two direct qualification spots for next year's FIFA marquee tournament within reach.

Fully prepared for a possible hostile atmosphere from the Chinese crowd, Australian defender Milos Degenek said his team will need the vibe to stay motivated.

"As a football player, you want to play in a game like this and you want to play in a stadium with 70,000 or 80,000 people (cheering against you). To feed off that energy that will motivate you. I think there is no pressure," he said.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn