China's national men's football team's head coach Gao Hongbo has resigned from his post after the team's 2-0 loss to Uzbekistan on Tuesday. The loss jeopardized the country's hopes of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Gao, 50, returned to take over the national squad for a second stint as the head coach of China in February following the departure of Frenchman Alain Perrin from the post. However, the veteran Chinese football manager has struggled since taking over.

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"I spoke with the heads of the Chinese Football Association before the match and we agreed if we couldn't reach a positive result against Uzbekistan I would stand down from my post," Gao stated in a statement posted on the Asian Football Confederation website. "As a result of this defeat, I bring an end to my time in charge of the China national team. I want to thank to all the fans and media which supported us during the games. I hope the China national team will be better in the future and we will meet in football again."

China's loss in Tashkent put the team at the bottom of the six-team Asian Group A after four of 10 matches in the round.

China is to Group A along with Iran, South Korea, Syria, Uzbekistan, and Qatar. The group's top-two finishers will advance to Russia and automatically qualify for the prestigious football event while the team that will end up in the third-place will battle for a playoff berth.

China has suffered losses against South Korea (3-2), Syria (1-0) and Uzbekistan (2-0), but held Iran to a goalless (0-0) draw so far, according to Xinhua.

China will still play Qatar before wrapping up their FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign. 

TagsGao Hongbo, 2018 FIFA World Cup, fifa, afc