China
Never before, China knocked out of Women's World Cup
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-30 21:18
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 China's Li Danyang (14) reacts as Japan's players celebrate after winning during their AFC Women's Asian Cup 2010 3rd/4th placing soccer match in Chengdu Sports Centre, Sichuan province May 30, 2010. [Agencies] |
CHENGDU -- Hosts China squandered their last chance to gain a 2011 Women's World Cup berth here on Sunday when they lost to Japan 2-0 at the AFC Women's Asian Cup third-place playoff.
The AFC Women's Asian Cup is held in soccer-mad city Chengdu from May 19-30. The top three finishers will qualify for next year's World Cup in Germany.
China, who aimed to win back the AFC trophy from holders DPR Korea and qualify for the 2011 World Cup, disappointed the home crowd as they not only failed to reach the Asian Cup final for the first time in nine years, but also failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time.
"We could not qualify for the World Cup and I feel it is quite reasonable for me to leave the team. I feel very sorry for the fans of the Chinese women's football team," said Shang Ruihua, whose two-year tenure as China coach may end after the game.
"I think we did our best in terms of tactics and in fighting spirit," he added. "I would like to thank all the players not just for how they played in this match but in the whole tournament."
The "Steel Roses", who last won the Asian Cup in Adelaide in 2006 after a record seven successive titles from 1983 to 1999, failed to make even a single challenging attack against Japan's goalmouth, while the East Asian champions took control of the field in most time of the match with dangerous attacks and solid defense.
East Asian champions Japan opened their scoring in the 18th minute when midfielder Miyama Aya sneaked in to pounce on the loose ball in a melee after her free kick missed the target and teammate Sawa Homare's shot hit the woodwork.
The hosts' misery was compounded in the second half when Sawa curved a header on Miyama's free kick in the 62nd minute.
China could have seized a World Cup berth if they claimed a victory in the semifinal against reigning champions DPR Korea.
However, DPR Korea proved themselves too strong for the hosts as they edged China 1-0 with the unique goal on 108 minutes. Midfielder Kim Kyong Hwa pounced on the loose ball to break the deadlock after her teammate's shot was rejected.
With the win, the reigning champions secured the World Cup berth with another finalist Australia, who edged Japan 1-0 to reach the final.
Despite finishing the fourth of the Asian Cup, China were quite unconvincing and only escaped with a scoreless draw against South Korea after their opponents hit the woodwork four times in the group match.
Although knocked out in the group stage, South Korea showed their strength in the Asian Cup and they could have defeated China if they were luckier.
China only claimed two victories at the Asian Cup, a 5-0 win against bottom-placed Vietnam and a 1-0 win over Australia who had already qualified for the semifinals at that time.
It becomes more and more difficult for China to make the top three of Asia as Australia, Japan, DPR Korea and South Korea are all stronger than her.
It will also be hard for China to qualify for the London Olympic Games in 2012 since Asia only have two berths for the Games.
However, there are still something good as some young players showed good potentials, like Zhang Rui, Li Danyang, Sun Ling and so on.
"I feel we can see that the future of women's football in China is good." Shang said. "The Chinese Football Association concentrates a lot on women's football. I believe with their continued support, the Chinese women's football will continue to develop."
Wei Di, president of the CFA (China Football Association), expressed his confidence about the Chinese women's football.
"I am sorry that China failed to qualify for the World Cup and the CFA are responsible of it," he said. "We will deal with it seriously. Although some Asian teams are stronger than us, I think we can catch up with them after three or five years."
