China's World Cup path gets tougher after losing to Uzbekistan

Chinese coach Gao Hongbo is seen during the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifying match against Uzbekistan in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Oct 11, 2016. Gao has announced his resignation at the post-match press conference.  [Photo/Xinhua]

Gao made seven changes in his formation against Uzbekistan to fortify the defense. But it didn't work. The statistics showed that China got only two shots in the whole game as compared to 19 for Uzbekistan.

Gao failed to mould an effective formation nor playing style for the Chinese team and all his tries ended in vain. Although there are still six matches remaining, the performances of the Chinese team have not given the fans any hope.

Uzbekistan's Igor Sergeev almost broke the deadlock in the 31st minute, but his shot in close range was denied by China keeper Yang Zhi, his club teammate of Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan.

Marat Bikmaev's shot found the net in the 50th minute after receiving Devronbek Khashimov's pass. The goal made chaos in Chinese defence line and two shots from Uzbekistan hit the woodwork in the next 10 minutes.

China changed its formation to 4-2-3-1, but it couldn't solve the problem of weak midfield defense in the last 30 minutes.

In the 85th minute, Otabek Shukurov doubled the lead through a long shot. Uzbekistan snatched their third victory in the four games played.

"I will leave the national team because of poor health," said Gao, a big name in his professional life as a Chinese footballer.

Gao started his coaching career in 1998. In April 2009, he became the head coach of the Chinese national football team but was sacked in August 2011 and replaced by Jose Antonio Camacho from Spain.

China will host Qatar in Kunming on Nov. 15, the fifth game of the qualifiers, and they must find a new head coach firstly.