“I’ve watched all the [Asian Cup] games and the teams we would have considered underdogs before, the way they approach the game and individual quality … have all improved,” Wu said.

A Weibo user sparked a debate by asking who were the “supposed underdogs” Wu was referring to, implying that China were the weakest team in the finals.

“Who said the typical underdogs have got better? China have always been the weakest team and aren’t improving,” another vented.

“I think the Hong Kong team can play better than China if they represented the national team, and maybe they can even win one or two games in an upset,” they posted.

The loss to Qatar’s second string snuffed out China’s hopes of qualifying automatically for the knockout stage as Group A’s second-placed team, and left them hoping other results went their way to allow them to grab one of the remaining slots.

They had started their tournament with two drab 0-0 draws in which they lacked an attacking threat, against Tajikistan on January 13 then against Lebanon last Wednesday.

“Qatar didn’t even put their best team out and were just going through the motions,” another comment said.

Chinese social media applauds Hong Kong’s foreign-born Asian Cup footballers

Wu acknowledged Chinese football fans had been through a dispiriting time.

“We need to improve in a lot of areas,” the Shanghai Port forward said. “China’s national team have left a lot of fans disappointed.

“The result [against Qatar] is not ideal … and in the three group matches we haven’t scored a single goal, so we need to reassess our attacking ability and work harder in all areas.”

But sports pundit Wang Jianxiang wrote on Weibo: “To reconstruct after this disaster, we must act quickly to change the coach, get the basics right and stop the rot.”

Another pundit, Ji Yuyang, posted: “The Asian Cup has made us see clearly how many countries in Asia are improving their level of football. China isn’t just standing still – we’re fully regressing.

“Is this rock bottom? Are you sure we’re even there yet?”

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse