The teams - China

Asian Champions - Group B

China are the new kids on the block. Having only formed a national team in time for the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, they almost caused a massive shock by winning the Paralympic competition on home soil.

After a perfect start, with a 3-0 win over Great Britain, China won their next game against World Champions Argentina. Further wins over South Korea and Spain saw them go into the final group game against Brazil undefeated. A thrilling 1-1 draw set up a rematch against Brazil in the final. With a partisan, capacity crowd of 2700 spectators packing the stadium, China narrowly failed to defeat their South American rivals, eventually losing 2-1.

China did however win the Asian Championship in style late last year. They conceded only one goal in their group games, defeating Japan, Iran, South Korea and Malaysia on their way to the final. In the final they came up against a strong Japanese team, but eventually came out 2-0 winners.

If their rapid progress improves, China could well be this tournament’s dark horses, and whether or not the South American sides have got their card marked could be a crucial factor in their chances of progressing from the group stage.

Squad list

Cha Hua Zu
Lei Niu
Fa Wen Zheng
Jing Li Zhang
Feng Ya Wang
Bin Zhou Wang
Qiang Xiao Li
Qi Tian Gao
Yong Shan Chen
Bao Tang Gao

Staff list

Gui Liang Qiao (Manager)
Jun Jie Dong (Coach)
Hong Mou Zou (Coach)
Jian Wei Li (Guide)
Yi Jiang (Translator)