The China men's team is gearing up for their latest World Cup qualifier against Syria on November 14 in the United Arab Emirates. 

Espanyol forward Wu Lei arrived at the team hotel and joined the 25-man squad for training after showing in the starting line-up in Sunday's Spanish La Liga match against Atletico Madrid. In a practice match, the PRC men's team defeated local side UEA champions Sharjah FC 6-1. Getting on the score sheet were Liu Yang, Liu Binbin, Yang Xu, Zhang Xizhe, Elkeson, and Wei Shihao. Marcello Lippi hopes to lead China to their second World Cup, and first since 2002. However he faces a tough task against a rejuvenated Syria, who currently lead Group A in the second round of Asian qualifiers.

China's opponents in the warm-up game pale in comparison to the Syrian squad, but Tianjin Teda midfielder Mirahmetjan Muzepper believes it helped them get into shape for Thursday's game.

"In terms of the previous session, first of all, we are trying to find the rhythm of match and adapt to. And second, we need to meet the tactical requirements. So to sum up, both sides played well in the practice match. In training, we focused on Syria's tactics, because they are a fast-paced and aggressive team, so if we want to dominate the game, we need to play at a fast pace," said Muzepper.