China beat Jamaica 1-0 in friendly

China ended their warm-up matches ahead of 2014 World Cup qualifying Wednesday with a 1-0 victory over Jamaica in torrential rain in front of a lively crowd in Hefei. The match was China's last before a qualifier they are widely expected to win against minnows Singapore on September 2. China defender Zhao Peng scored the only goal in the ninth minute, heading a corner from veteran workhorse midfielder Hao Junmin past the near post into the back of the Jamaican net. With the rain still coming down heavily in the second half play was often messy and the sides traded equal possession with no result. Multiple second half substitutions changed little for either side and the game wound down to a sloppy, wet ending after Jamaican forward Navion Boyd went off injured in the 71st minute. In Japan and South Korea 2002, their only World Cup finals appearance, China failed to win a match or even score. Still, some 300 million tuned in to watch with pride. China's failure to reach the knockout stages of the 2011 Asian Cup in Doha in January deepened fans' frustration over the inability of the world's most populous nation to succeed in the world's most popular sport. But the Chinese have ended a string of five friendly matches with a record of three wins and two draws, beating Honduras, Uzbekistan and the North Koreans, while drawing with Costa Rica and New Zealand.