China won their first point and scored their first goal in Olympic Games
and World Cup as they drew with Olympian debutant New Zealand 1-1 in their Group
C match of the men's soccer tournament yesterday.
Subsititute forward Dong Fangzhuo, who plays for Manchester United, scored a
last-gasp goal with a headar with two minutes before the final whistle.
China scored none in their only World Cup appearance in 2002 and previous
Olympics experience in the 1988 Seoul Games, where they conceded a total of five
goals.
New Zealand broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute, when midfielder Craig
Henderson chested the ball down near the Chinese box and flicked it to a running
Jeremy Brockie, who duly slammed it into the back of the net.
The first half of the match featured a number of fruitless tit-for-tat
attacks and is marred by a series of fouls. New Zealand defense mainstay Steven
Old, who plays in the Australian A-League, was sent off after receiving his
second yellow card because of a hand ball in the 39th minute.
China started to reinforce offensiveness and overwhelmed the Kiwis in their
half. In the 67th minute, forward Jiang Ning got perfect sight of goal. Charlton
Athletic playmaker Zheng Zhi crossed the ball from the left, but the chance was
denied by New Zealand captain and defender Ryan Nelsen.
New Zealand had chance to score a last minute winner but the ball was skewed
wide.
New Zealand's "Oly-Whites" have never qualified for the men's Olympic
tournament before but they became the confident qualifier of Oceania with
Australia now competing in the Asian confederation.
China will take on Belgium and the Kiwis will meet medal favorite Brazil in
their next matches.
