Guangzhou Evergrande midfielder Liao Lisheng plays for the China U-23 national team and was the most experienced player in the young squad. (Photo : Getty Images)
China officially ended its stint in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship with a disappointing 2-3 loss to Iran in the third round of Group A competitions, leaving the said tournament without a win to boot on Monday.
Guangzhou Evergrande midfielder Liao Lisheng was the main man for the Chinese under 23 national team, scoring one goal in each one of their three defeats.
The 22-year-old Liao opened the scoring during the team's first two outings in the tournament, a 1-3 defeat in the hands of host Qatar in their opener and another 1-3 loss to Syria three days later.
Against Iran, though, his goal came as a consolation one at the 70th minute after Team Omid had already built a 3-1 advantage going into the final minutes.
Mohammad Khakpour's squad started the match strong with two goals, courtesy of Amir Motahari and Ehsan Pahlavan, in the first half of play. China forward Chang Feiya was able to score one for Fu Bo's boys in the 40th to make it 2-1 in favor of Iran at the halftime break.
Three minutes into the second half, Iran scored another one as winger Mehdi Torabi "fired a thunderous free-kick into the roof of the net", as reported by Press TV, to make it 3-1 before Liao's late goal.
The Iranians held their defense for the last 20 minutes of the match to hand the Chinese their third straight defeat in the group stages and eliminate them from the competition altogether.
"We created this team in 2013 with the plan to fight for this championship, but the result isn't satisfying," head coach Fu said, via Four Four Two. "However, the players still need to go a long way and fight for their dreams in the future."
