BEIJING - China Football Association vice-president Jiang Jilong is hoping that the country's successful staging of the Asian Cup 2004 will be a platform that it can build upon for the future of the sport in the country.

Speaking to the Chinese press after the conclusion of the tournament, Jiang stated his delight with the tournament as a whole.

"Personally, I would give the Asian Cup 10 marks out of 10," said Jiang. "I am very pleased with the performances of the China national team as well as the organisation of the event.

"I am very delighted with all that had taken place as all that happened during the Asian Cup proves we have made progress.

"I thought we showed a very high level of sporting spirit on the field. For such a big tournament, it is important for us to conduct ourselves in a proper manner. For the quality of our squad and our standards, we showed we can compete at the highest level."

According to Jiang, the tournament also gave a good indication of China's standing in Asian football. Having reached the final for only the second time in the tournament's history, Jiang is hoping that the national team can build on that performance and continue to improve.

"The team showed we are ready to move into the next stage. It remains to be seen if we can remain amongst the best in Asia.

"Before the start of the Asian Cup, we wanted to know where we stand in the realms of Asian football and through this tournament, we noticed West Asia have made vast improvements on the pitch.

"Bahrain, Jordan and Oman showed they have put in a lot of effort to make their team better. They are a threat to what we have set out to achieve. We need to address how we are going to tackle our development programs because if we let our guard down, we will be left behind.

"We must concentrate on our foundations. If we can groom our young players in the right way and improve our training programs, we will definitely improve. More importantly, if we can take these young stars overseas, to players such as Europe or South America, we can see a good future."