22 July 2004	Thursday	04 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

BEIJING, July 21: China closed in on a quarterfinal spot at the Asian Cup on Wednesday, the hosts destroying Indonesia 5-0 in a Beijing storm shower.

Earlier, Qatar earned a controversial 1-1 draw with Gulf rivals Bahrain a day after dismissing coach Philippe Troussier.

Indonesia coach Ivan Kolev had visited the Great Wall of China before the match in search of inspiration but his team were swept aside by a rampant Chinese team. German-based midfielder Shao Jiayi capped a wonderful performance with two goals as China completely dominated the 200th match in Asian Cup finals history.

A crowd of 48,000 braved the driving rain to roar on China, who were anxious to atone for a lacklustre 2-2 draw with Bahrain in their opening match at the weekend. "We appreciated the great atmosphere," said China coach Arie Haan. "I said before the tournament when you are at home you need your fans. Today we gave something back to them."

China, who have never won the Asian Cup, have four points from two Group A games and only need to draw with Qatar on Sunday to be assured of a quarterfinal spot. Indonesia have three points after their upset 2-1 victory over Qatar, while Bahrain have two points.

Qatar looked poised to spring an upset following Wesam Rizik's 59th-minute penalty, awarded for a questionable foul on striker Seyd Bechir. Japanese referee Toru Kamikawa waved off furious penalty appeals from Bahrain players six minutes later when substitute Duaij Naser was clattered just inside the box.

However, striker Mohamed Hubail salvaged a 1-1 draw for Gulf Cup runners-up Bahrain with a looping header a minute into injury time. "In my opinion the penalty against us was not a penalty," shrugged Bahrain coach Srecko Juricic. "The penalty claim we had should have been a penalty. We deserved this point."

New Qatar coach Saeed Al Mesned praised his players for recovering quickly from their defeat by Indonesia. "We tried to play with more discipline and be stronger mentally," he said. "Bahrain are a very dangerous team so it was important to control the ball and not give possession away." -Reuters