Group leaders China moved closer to their first-time qualification for the World Cup finals as they beat Uzbekistan 2-0 in an Asian qualifier in Shengyang on Saturday.

Uzbekistan weathered through a storm of China's attacks, holding the host to a scoreless draw in the first half. Their defence, however, buckled in the second half, allowing China to score two set-piece goals.

In the 62nd minute central defender Li Weifeng, who headed in China's sole goal in their lucky draw with Qatar, put China 1-0 ahead with a header on a corner kick by teammate Wu Chengying.

Uzbekistan's confidence to hit back was dented as their central defender Sergey Lushan got his marching order in the 67th minute when he was showed the second yellow card of the match. But eight minutes later Wu Chengying was also red-carded

In the 75th minute, China's another central defender Fan Zhiyi, who plays with England's Crystal Palace, threw their opponents into the abyss of despair when his powerful direct freekick sliced open Uzbekistan's defence and flew past Polyakov.

Bora Milutinovic, China's head coach, almost begged words to praise his players. "This is the most excellent game they played since I became their coach. Now China get 10 points and enjoy a better position for qualification. But the unpredictability always exists in soccer, so I hope my players will have the same desire for win in our next game against UAE," he said.

"We are now moving towards an ideal finish," the Serb said. "We have marched forward by 10 steps, and there are 10 more steps remained for us to finish."

Uzbekistan's head coach Vladimir Salkov was a little upset, blaming their loss on bad luck. "Our luck was bad, so We lost," he said, "Sometimes, luck is more important in soccer matches."

He thought China still leave much to be desired. "I hope China will improve on their strategical combination," he said.

Salkov fielded a 3-6-1 line-up to counter China's 4-4-2. Both teams played tentatively in the first ten minutes, building up packed defence to ensure their goals unchallenged.

But the host, who failed in all their past six attempts to qualify for the World Cup finals, immediately dominated the game thenafter. Keyed by right defender Sun Jihai, they launched waves upon waves of attacks.

Under the ferocious attacks by China, Uzbekistani players were pinned around their area, busying themselves with blocking out Chinese players' dangerous passes and shots.

China's best scoring chance in the first half came in the 33rd minute when left defender Wu Chengying's long powerful blast flew past Uzbekistani goalkeeper Aleksey Polyakov, but was denied by a defender just before the goalline.

In the 44th minute, China's playmaker Qi Hong came close to scoring when he met a through ball from teammate on a solo run, only to see his chipping shot fly jsut aside the left post when being challenged by Polyakov.

With the win, China enlarged their lead in Group B with 10 points, 4 points clear of second-placed Uzbekistan.

The Asian World Cup qualifiers are now undergoing in two groups, the winners of each will automatically qualify for the finals.

(Xinhua News Agency 09/16/2001)