BRISBANE: High-flying China have emerged as the Asian Cup's dark horses after their best start to the competition in 27 years emphatically put the cat among the pigeons.
Twice runners-up, the Chinese have never won the continent's showcase tournament but Wednesday's explosive 2-1 comeback win over Uzbekistan in Brisbane saw them sweep into the quarter-finals and put the title favourites on red alert.
"We played a very, very beautiful match," said China coach Alain Perrin, who promised champagne corks would be popping. "The players were nervous at the start and we conceded a goal but we kept playing our style of football."
However, the Frenchman could experience a nasty hangover after his night quaffing bubbly following upset victories over Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.
China, who have secured top spot in Group B, may come back to earth with a bump as they face either hosts Australia or regional heavyweights South Korea in the last eight.
The Koreans, hit with a flu bug and an injury crisis, appear the more likely opponents with the Socceroos on a hot streak of their own and scoring for fun.
"In this Asian Cup we cannot look down on any team," said Perrin, who ended China's miserable run of having failed to reach the knockout stages since hosting the competition in 2004.
"We just need to carry on focusing on what we need to do, just prepare for our next matches."
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