Immense pressure during World Cup qualifying defeat to Vietnam, says Chinese midfielder

BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese midfielder Xu Xin said huge psychological pressure played a destructive role in China's humiliating 3-1 loss to Vietnam during their FIFA 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign.

The Chinese side were under constant pressure throughout their failed World Cup qualification and it took a heavy toll on their away game against Vietnam in early February, according to Xu.

"Before that game all of us were preoccupied with one thought: we cannot afford to lose the game, we cannot afford any hiccup during the game," he said.

"This brought huge pressure to us, which badly affected our performance. Admittedly, we were not good enough to be completely sure of beating Vietnam."

"Vietnam made impressive progress over the past few years, they were probably determined to beat us in that game," he added.

The defeat to Vietnam meant the Chinese side's slim chance to qualify for the World Cup finals was shattered with two more games left.