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Dubai: The sending off of Iraqi midfielder Nashat Akram in the 70th minute cost the Asian Champions dear against China in their first encounter in the 2010 Fifa World Cup qualifying match at Rashid stadium in Al Ahli club on Wednesday.
After just five minutes from his red card, China cancelled out Iraq's 1-0 lead in the Group A tie and scored an equaliser which gave them a valuable point.
Midfielder Hawar Mulla gave Iraq the lead in the 50th minute from the spot.
"To win one point from our first match at home is not a good result. We were aiming to clinch the three points, because it will not be easy in the away matches," said Mulla.
The Iraq star said they must win their coming tie against Qatar on March 26 to make the Iraqi people as happy as when they won the Asian Cup last year.
In the second minute Iraq lost Younis Mahmoud who scored the winner against Saudi Arabia in the Asian Cup Finals. Younis injured himself without any Chinese player touching him when his foot hit the ground fiercely while chasing a long ball.
"We played without two of our best players, Younis and Nashat. Their absence was a big blow to our attacking tactics and the Chinese benefited from that," said the Iraqi coach Egil Olsen of Norway.
Compensate
He claimed that losing one point is not a big problem. "We were not lucky in scoring, it's true we lost one point at home, but we can compensate in the coming matches." said Olsen.
The match was attended by a huge crowd of 12,000 Iraqi supporters, while many Chinese also attended.
"I take this opportunity to apologise to our loyal supporters who filled the stadium. Our performance was not good and I hope we will satisfy them in the coming matches and reach the World Cup," said Mulla.
Zheng Zhi, the Chinese skipper who plays with Charlton Athletic, levelled the scoring with a powerful header which beat the Iraqi custodian Noor Sabri to his left in the 75th minute.
"I played at the beginning with six and seven defenders, because we were playing against the Asian champions," said China coach Fladimer Petrovic.
"However I changed the tactics in the second half, played attacking football by changing two defenders, replaced them with attackers, it paid when we levelled and could have win especially after Iraq played with 10 men."
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