Saudi Arabia crash China's U-19 Championship ambitions

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For China it was another sobering afternoon and another bleak reminder of how far they are from competing on a level footing with the elite teams of Asia.

With high winds and torrential rain battering the Patriot Stadium, China made another miserable tournament exit as Cheng Yaodong's side crashed out of the AFC U-19 Championship in Bekasi, Indonesia.

In need of a victory to advance from the group stage after starting their campaign with an agonizing 0-1 loss to Tajikistan, China failed to rouse themselves and were doomed once Al Qahtani fired Saudi Arabia in front 10 minutes from time.

The result means Friday's match against Malaysia, who still have a slim chance of reaching the quarter-finals following a 2-2 draw with Tajikistan, is meaningless for China.

Shanghai Shenhua's Liu Ruofan has been a revelation in the Chinese Super League but the Chinese N0.10 failed to sparkle during the AFC U-19 Championship. /VCG Photo

Cheng Yaodong acknowledged that while the second game was an improvement, his side still had problems in defensive transition, too often leaving the central defenders exposed to Saudi Arabia's counter-attacks.

However, defensive frailty is not China's only problem. When pushing forward, there was no fluency and little cohesion. Not until Xu Lei met a cross with a flicked header two minutes before the interval was there a real sense of China's threat.

Qi Yuxi almost created an opening soon after the break but that was a rare spasm of pressure as China put several passes astray and made too many poor decisions in the final third. Saudi Arabia played with courage, skill and togetherness while China, in stark contrast, dramatically lost their way once their late rally had been resisted.

Cheng Yaodong will have much to ponder as China is sent tumbling out of the AFC U-19 Championship at the group stage, October 23, 2018. /VCG Photo

This was also a dismal afternoon for Tao Qianglong, Guo Tianyu and particularly Liu Ruofan. Liu displayed an occasional flash of brilliance but did little otherwise to justify his star billing and, defensively, it must have been startling for Cheng Yaodong to see the way they capitulated.

Saudi Arabia's breakthrough came from one of their trademark counter-attacks as China were caught out when pushing for a win. Wen Jiabao was harried out of possession in the middle of the park and Al Qahtani was sent tearing down the right. The substitute neatly cut inside before applying a powerful low finish that squeezed through Peng Peng's grasp.

"Saudi Arabia created more chances and had more possession, but to be honest, both teams had scoring opportunities," a defiant Cheng observed after the loss. "I'm very disappointed that we didn't get a good result."

China U-19 storms to win the 2018 Panda Cup after beating England 1-0 in Chengdu, May 26, 2018, but it represented another false dawn. /VCG Photo

The general consensus heading into the tournament was that this Chinese U-19 team would hold so much promise after their sparkling performance at the Panda Cup earlier this year.

However, successive defeats to Tajikistan and Saudi Arabia have dealt a fierce reality check, with the inquest that follows unlikely to make pretty reading for the Chinese Football Association or Cheng Yaodong.