A series of tough international games awaits the Chinese team, and its prospects have not been enhanced by disturbing news on the local front.

According to media reports, national player Zhang Linpeng, who plays for Chinese Super League giant Guangzhou Evergrande, pretended to be injured to escape national obligations.

The 23-year-old defender, who underwent surgery on his hip in Italy last November, was twice diagnosed by national team doctors as not having sufficiently recovered and they decreed he was unable to play in the Asian Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia on Thursday.