Ghastly gaffe, wife's adultery claims mark dire day for Chinese defender

Tuesday was not a banner day for Chinese international defender Jiang Zhipeng.

The Guangzhou R&F left-back's disastrous attempted headed clearance during a World Cup qualifying defeat against Iran in Tehran was just the tip of the iceberg.

The 28-year-old's wife took to Chinese microblogging site Weibo after the 1-0 defeat, according to 7Sport, revealing he has filed for divorce after an alleged adulterous affair.

"I supported him when he was still a poor lad and my mum treated him like her own son, my family even chipped in with 1 million RMB to cover the down payment for his house in Shanghai," Zhang Zhiyue wrote. "We didn't have a wedding ceremony and our relationship was never made public.

"In nearly three-and-a-half years out of four-year marriage, he was sleeping with other women and now he is trying to drive me to an early grave."

She posted photos of Jiang on Weibo "snuggling with his alleged mistress," the BBC adds, and asked the Chinese Football Association (CFA) to ban him from the national team.

The CFA has yet to respond to Zhang's request.

With the loss, China sits second from bottom in Group A of the AFC qualifiers with a scant five points in seven matches. The top two teams from Groups A and B earn automatic qualification and the two third-place sides lock horns in a bid for 2018 Russia, so Jiang and Co. need a miracle to book a spot in a second World Cup.