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"I have to admit that luck was on our side. We could have won 2-0 if we played better. But after leading by two goals, our defenders made a mistake and let Vietnam score their first goal. After that, we did not play well and Vietnam took the chance to equalize.
"But the players did not give up. They tried to find the winning goal in the remaining time and succeeded. I want to thank them for not giving up."
China led 2-0 after 75 minutes, but Vietnam never gave up and equalized in the next 15 minutes through goals from Ho Tan Tai and Nguyen Tien Linh.
But in the last minute Wu Lei scored a third goal to ensure a win for China.
With their first three points, China moved to fifth place while Vietnam fell to sixth.
Li said: "This victory is really important. It gives motivation for players to train harder and play better in the next games."
Li also implied that training in the UAE for a month helped the team.
On October 12 China play Saudi Arabia while Vietnam face Oman.
World Cup qualifiers: China 3-2 Vietnam
