China's men's Under-23 team remains in the hunt for a Rio 2016 Olympics berth, having dispatched hosts Laos 3-0 Tuesday to finish its three-game Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Championships qualification campaign at the top of its group.
The result guarantees the team a spot at the AFC U-23 Championships in Qatar 2016. A top three finish there would result in Olympic qualification and the chance to vie for a medal against the world's best.
The win against Laos followed victories against fellow group J members Mongolia and Singapore on Friday and Sunday respectively.
The scoreboard saw its first addition in the 17th minute thanks to the left boot of Chinese midfielder Feng Gang who sent the ball past Lao goalkeeper Soukthavy Soundala on its way to the back of the net from a launch site just inside the box.
Keeper Souktavy had more opportunities to see the ball close up, proving a safe pair of hands for his side on multiple occasions.
Laos' players found themselves within striking distance a number of times in the first half, but were unable to convert chances into goals thanks to the Chinese defense, with the score remaining unchanged as the teams went to the break.
Possession remained highly contested in the early stages of the second half.
Wildly alternating possession and field position eventually opened up enough space to yield Chinese midfielder Xie Pengfei his side's second goal.
Laos' counterattack probed the Chinese defense on multiple occasions but the South-East Asian team was unable to make a mark on a Chinese score sheet that has remained unblemished through out the qualification stage.
When a quick free kick culminated in a goal for China's Guo Hao in the 77th minute, the result of the match was put beyond any doubt.
Chinese coach Fu Bo paid tribute to the Lao team for making the match a much tougher test than the 3-0 final scoreline might otherwise indicate.
He said while his team has improvements to make, he was pleased to see them clear the qualification hurdle for Qatar.
"Even though we scored 13 goals in the tournament, the three opponents were not strong compared to those we will meet in the final stage."
"I hope when we play against strong teams we can still play in this way."
Laos' coach David Booth expressed disappointment at his team's concession of the two second-half goals.
"They worked hard but unfortunately made mistakes tonight that should not be made at this level which takes away from a lot of the work they have done."
"Losing 1-0 at the half we still had a chance, when it went to two down, (the Chinese side) didn't have to create anything."
