Arnold tips China emergence

Central Coast coach Graham Arnold believes Chinese football is on the rise after his side drew 0-0 with Tianjin Teda in the AFC Champions League.

The Mariners boss was upbeat after the goalless draw in Tianjin on Wednesday, admitting his side managed an important point against a good team.

“I think they will have a successful season, I think that Tianjin is a very good team. They have a wonderful coach in Josip Kuze and he will do very well,” he said.

“I was very impressed with the way they played football. I think the team balance and structure overall was very good, and they are a very, very strong team.”

On Chinese football, he added: “I think it shows that Chinese football is going to be very. very strong, and it will be one of the powerhouse leagues in Asia with the J.League very soon.”

Bernie Ibini-Isei might have earned all three points for the A-League leaders late on, but Arnold was content with a share of the points.

“I thought we played a fantastic game,” he said. “After playing (in the A-League) on Saturday in Australia and travelling for 22 hours with only two days here in Tianjin, I thought it was a fantastic performance from my team.”

“I was very proud of the way that we played. We definitely competed very well with a very good Tianjin team.”

Arnold added: “I am very proud because, I don’t know if the journalists know, but we had four 19-year-olds on the field, we’re a very young team, and we had four 19-year-olds who did excellent.”