CHINA’S national football team arrived in Bahrain yesterday ahead of their international friendly tomorrow at the National Stadium in Riffa, starting 7pm.
World Cup-winning head coach Marcello Lippi, the former manager of Series ‘A’ giants Juventus and Inter Milan as well as former coach of the Italian national team, heads the Chinese delegation.
Bahrain Football Association official Khaled Khalil was at the airport to receive the Chinese delegation.
China lost their friendly clash against Qatar 0-1 in Doha on Friday.
The Chinese team conducted their first training session yesterday evening at the Al Ahli Club Stadium in Zinj and are scheduled to practice today at National Stadium.
The Bahrainis resumed their training last night under head coach Miroslav Soukup.
Bahrain drew 1-1 with the Philippines in a friendly on Thursday.
The friendlies are part of all three teams’ preparations for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 to be held in the UAE in January.
Chinese team: Sinobo Guo’an, Chi Zhongguo, Piao Cheng, Wei Shihao, Yu Yang, Zhang Xizhe; from Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao, Feng Xiaoting, Gao Lin, Li Xuepeng, Yu Hanchao, Zhang Linpeng, Zheng Zhi, Zeng Cheng; from Hebei China Fortune, Zhang Chengdong; from Jiangsu Suning, Wu Xi; from Shandong Luneng, Wang Dalei, Wang Tong, Zheng Zheng; from Shanghai SIPG: Wu Lei, Yan Junling, Yu Hai; from Tianjin Teda, Mirahmetjan Muzepper; and Liu Yiming, Yang Xu, Zhao Xuri from Tianjin Quanjian.