China defender Sun Jiha's father Sun Zongliang hit out at national coach Arie
Haan after the Dutchman left the Manchester City player out of the starting
lineup in their 2-2 draw at the Asian Cup opener here on
Saturday.
Jihai came
off the bench in the 77th minute for German Bundesliga midfielder Shao Jiayi and
had no time to perform.
"Haan is a woodheaded coach,"
Zongliang said in an interview with his hometown's Radio Dalian. "China will
become no hopers under his charge."
Zongliang,
also a soccer coach, predicted that China cannot reach the semifinals in the
Asian Cup, which is being held for thefirst time in
China.
"Every coach has his own tactic,"he said.
"I don't mind who can start in a match as long as the team wins. But I really
think Sun Jihai should start in the match.
"I am not
only his father, but also his physical training coach.There's no physical
problem for him. Since he can start in Manchester City, why can't he start in
the national team?"
The angry father added: "If you
don't start him, you'd better let him return to England."
Sun Jihai's position on the right of the back four
was taken byWei Xin, but his father said that Wei is uncomparable with his son.
"Everybody can see that Wei is no match with Sun Jihai,"
the father said.
Sun senior said that it's
impossible for Haan's side to reach the semifinals.
"The team is no good because the coach is no good," he said. "We have two ways
to improve Chinese soccer. The first is we must rely on ourselves and make hard
efforts. The second is that we must have high-level coaches. Otherwise Chinese
soccer is always hopeless."
Sun Jihai has long been
regarded as one of China's best defenders. He studied in Brazil as a teenager in
early 1990s and started his professional career in multi-Chinese champions
Dalian Shide.
In 1998, he joined former England head
coach Teery Venables' Crystal Palace alongside national teammate Fan Zhiyi, but
his departure took a toll on the Shide side and he was invited by then Dalian
mayor Bo Xilai back to the home club after playing in London for only a season.
Further established in China's first division league,
Sun joined another former England coach Kevin Keegan's Manchester Cityin 2001
and became the first Chinese player in the English premierleague.
Jihai always said that his father is the first person
that he should thank in his professional career. It was his father who gave him
a soccer ball when he was only seven.
Jihai was also fell out of former
China coach Bora Milutinovic' favor when the Serbian first took over as the
national boss. But he gradually won Milutinovic's trust and played a very
important role in China's successful campaign in qualifying for the 2002 World
Cup finals, the first time in China's history.
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