Soccer fans want China coach sacked

Angry Chinese fans demanded the resignation of China's football coach Sun Wei after his team were knocked out of the Asian Games following a 3-0 thrashing by South Korea in a last 16 match on Monday.

While home fans started off cheering their under-23 side, they were soon left frustrated. Sections of the crowd began supporting the Koreans and were heard chanting "sack the coach" and "dismiss the team".

China's head coach Sun tried putting on a brave face and said: "We still have a long way to go."

In recent years, Chinese soccer has been marred by controversy including corruption scandals, extensive match-fixing and violence both on and off the pitch.

A massive brawl between two Chinese Super League sides in August left hundreds injured.

Despite China's sporting success in an array of sports at the Olympics, fans have been frustrated by the country of 1.3 billion's failure to nurture a soccer team able to rival Asian powers Japan and South Korea.

"I came here not to see China win, we knew they wouldn't," said Wu Tian, 24-year-old spectator. "I just wanted to witness how bad Chinese football is. I think many fans feel the same."

China's hot-headed goalkeeper Wang Dalei, who recently trashed Chinese fans and journalists by calling them "dogs and morons" on his microblog, sat through the match on the bench.