BEIJING, June 4: Millions of people in football-mad China cheered on their team making its World Cup debut Tuesday as many offices and schools closed early and crowds were glued to televisions set up on the streets in a wave of patriotic fervour.

Despite China’s disappointing 2-0 defeat to Costa Rica, fans put on a brave face, blaming inexperience for the result.

In one of the largest gatherings, up to 1,000 students packed a cafeteria in the prestigious Beijing University to watch live broadcasts of the match in Gwangju, South Korea.

The crowd erupted in cheers when the Chinese national anthem was played and popular coach Bora Milutinovic appeared on a big screen.

“Score one goal! Score one goal!” the students chanted, reflecting the modest expectations fans had of the inexperienced team.

Following the match, fans behaved calmly despite huge disappointment that the high expectations their team would at least score one goal or draw the match had been dashed.

“It’s finished. There’s no more hope. It’s difficult to accept but rationally speaking, we have to accept our team was weaker,” said Wang Zehai, 31.

Many had already prepared themselves mentally for a loss. And for others, simply having a chance to watch China finally step up to the World Cup podium after a 44-year quest to qualify for the finals was a dream come true.

Students and workers took time off from their routine to watch the match — considered the best opportunity for China to win as it will later face the stronger teams of Brazil and Turkey in the first round.

On the streets, businesses set up television sets outside, drawing large crowds as offices and schools shut for the rest of the day.

Several schools in Beijing let their students watch the match at 2:30 pm (0630 GMT) by moving up afternoon classes to the morning, while other schools simply cancelled classes.

In the Beijing Number Four Middle School, all the students watched the match in their classrooms.

Work places including foreign companies were also making exceptions.

A third of the offices in the large China Resources Building in central Beijing closed for the afternoon while the rest allowed staff to watch the game at work, a staff member at the building’s management company said.—AFP