China

Women's team outclasses Taipei 3-0 in E. Asian Championship

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-02-13 17:24

TOKYO: China's women's football team outclassed Chinese Taipei with a comfortable 3-0 victory in their closing East Asian Football Championship game in Tokyo on Saturday.

Having squandered a number of chances in the first half under sleet and rain at the Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo, China finally broke the deadlock in the first minute of the second half, when a clever through ball was squared across the box by Ma Xiaoxu for fellow striker Han Duan to slot home from close range.

China spent most of the game camped out in the opposition's half, with Chinese Taipei failing to find any real momentum against a well-drilled Chinese team constantly pressing for goals.

In the 60th minute Dalian Shide F.C. superstar Han Duan doubled her tally, latching onto a laser-guided through ball from Li Dangyang, following Han's well-timed run that beat the offside trap.

With only the keeper to beat she calmly placed her left-footed shot into the side netting from a tight angle, leaving Huang Feng Chiu no chance.

With goal difference possibly being a determining factor in this tournament, China looked to extend on their lead with Bi Yan marshaling the midfield and Xu Yuan spreading the ball around well to exploit the flanks and picking out Ma Xiaoxu up front who was causing the Chinese Taipei back four all sorts of problems with her quick feet and strength.

It wasn't long until Chinese Taipei keeper Huang Feng Chiu was picking a third out of her net as a neat move down the left led to an intelligent reverse pass into the box being cleverly dummied by Han Duan for Pang Fengyue to sweep a left-footed shot past the helpless Huang in the 75th minute.

Chinese Taipai nearly pulled one back with 10-minutes to go, against the run of play, after the pacy Tan Wen Lin was sent through on goal, only to see her well-struck, low drive parried to saftey by Weng Xiaojie at full-stretch -- the first time the Chinese keeper had really been tested.

China continued to pepper the Chinese Taipei box until the final whistle, but Taipei in 'damage-control' mode, cleared their lines well.

"The Chinese team played well in the tournament," said head coach Shang Ruihua during a press conference after the game, highlighting ace-striker Ma Xiaoxu as being a key player throughout the three matches.

"MA Xiaoxu has played better during these three matches than in previous games, but I believe there's still better to come from her as she's not yet recovered her 2006 form, but has a great deal of potential."

"All she needs to do is keep pushing herself and she'll thrive, " said Shang.

On the team's performance today Shang believes, despite the score line, it wasn't flawless and the squad still needs to improve ahead of May's Asian Cup, which will be held in China.

"We made a few mistakes today with our passing and control and perhaps we need to address our overall organization, in this regard we can learn from Japan's approach," he said.