For the gold medal, Iran faces the winner of today's second semifinal, between Thailand and Kuwait before a packed Ratchamongkala Stadium.

The Chinese exhibited more control at mid-field than in their previous 1-2 defeat against Iran in a group decider last Friday. The defeat leaves the Chinese still unavenged for the Iranian victory that kept China out of the World Cup finals

The first-half ended scoreless, with the Chinese containing Bayern Munich striker Ali Daei, at one point bringing him down twice deep in their territory in the space of 30 seconds.

Daei drew a yellow card in the 18th minute, eliciting boos to the referee from Iranian fans who were constantly in action, beating tambourines and dancing.

In the second-half, Daei showed why he is considered such a threat after scoring eight goals leading up to the semifinals. Inthe fourth minute, he played a 15-meter free kick directly at the feet of Sayed Ali Mosavi-Hasanzadeh, who shot at point blank range on Chinese goalie Jiang Jin.

The ball bounced straight back at Mosavi and he launched it again, this time beating Jiang. It was his fifth goal of the tournament.

Chinese striker Yang Chen struggled to equalise, threatening numerous times but never finding the mark. China's English coach, Bobby Houghton, watched from the stands, among the capacity crowd of ardent Thai fans awaiting the subsequent semifinal against Kuwait. He was suspended for one match for using abusive language at referees and a soccer official.