SHARJAH, UAE, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) — Chinese international forward Zhang Yuning said on Sunday that he is very confident that China will beat Vietnam in its next FIFA World Cup qualifier as his team have been preparing the game in Sharjah, the UAE with targeted training.

“During the past few days, we have increased the training intensity and made physical preparations for the upcoming game,” Zhang said. “I have a strong faith that we will play a good match and beat our opponents.”

Zhang, who came off the bench in a friendly match between Chinese and Vietnamese Olympic teams in 2019, when China lost 2-0 at home, has vowed that it won’t happen again.

“I will spare no effort to run on the pitch and try my best to seize every opportunity. This is also what I told myself to do in training,” he said.

China was defeated by Australia and Japan in the first two matches of the final round of the World Cup Asian qualifying tournament, and the team was eager to get its qualification campaign back on track.

“Playing against strong teams with high tempo in first two matches is a great help to our growth. The next game is the time to show the true strength of our team. Everyone in the team has the same goal and that’s the reason we could hold on in the long time closed training overseas,” Zhang said.

Chinese veteran defender Zhang Linpeng, who was injured in the match against Japan, started his first outdoor rehabilitation training on Sunday.

China will play against Vietnam on October 7 in Sharjah.