China

China thrash Malaysia 22-0 at AFC women U19

(AFC)
Updated: 2006-04-14 11:10

China romped to a 22-0 victory over hosts Malaysia to seal second place in Group B in the AFC Under-19 Women's Championship.

Despite heavy rain on Thursday, China thrived in the wet conditions, storming to a 10-0 half-time lead before putting the finishing touches to their preliminary pool campaign.

The Chinese face Group A winners Japan in the semi-finals on Saturday and head coach Shang Ruiha was pleased with their preparations.

"We regret losing our first match but we have now got used to the conditions in Malaysia and I was pleased with our team today," said Shang, whose side lost 1-0 to Australia in their opening match.

"We enjoyed playing against Malaysia and we were also happy that we got a lot of encouragement from the Malaysian fans."

Malaysia finished bottom of the group having lost to Australia 16-0 and going down to Jordan 2-1.

Home coach Mohamed Ibrahim, whose aim was to score at least one goal in every game, was full of praise for his team despite the heavy defeat.

"You can't blame the girls because we have only had one and a half months training for this tournament," said Ibrahim. "I apologise for being unable to score but the players worked hard, never gave up and fought really well to score against Jordan.

"I think Malaysia should get behind women's football so that we can come back in two years time and show improvement."

Ibrahim said he would write to the Football Association of Malaysia seeking approval to take the women's team abroad for training.