No coaches will be fired after China's football team failed to advance past the group stage at the Asian Cup, the country's state news agency reported Monday.
Major losses by the perennially underperforming Chinese squad are often followed by coaching changes, but team administrator Cao Jingwei said officials were satisfied the team was able to gain experience at the regional tournament in Doha.
''Of course there's a lot we have to think about before the team heads forward, but there's no way we sack our head coach or any of the national team's coaching staff,'' Cao was quoted as saying. ''The main task that the Chinese soccer governing body handed to the team is to make the young players more experienced, and we thought they reached the goal.''
China bowed out of the tournament in Doha after a 2-2 draw with Uzbekistan on Sunday. It had needed to win by at least two goals to secure a spot in the quarterfinals after beating Kuwait and losing to host Qatar.
Despite China's status as an international sporting powerhouse, football has long been an area where the country has failed to excel. The country's notoriously scandal-plagued football federation has been riddled with violence, bribery and match fixing, obstacles that have choked player development and kept the national team mired at 79 in the world rankings.
