Women's national soccer team gives men's a lesson in professionalism

IN THE ON-GOING FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP in France, the Chinese women's national soccer team entered the knockout stage after advancing from a group of Germany, Spain and South Africa. China Daily writer Li Yang comments:

In the next round later this week, the Chinese team is likely to encounter England or Italy, either of which will be tough to beat. But most Chinese fans believe the team still has a chance to make its way to the quarterfinal.

In another development, fortune smiled on the Chinese men's national soccer team, which relies heavily on naturalized players, when it was recognized by the Asian Football Association on Monday as the last of the eight seeded teams, nosing out Iraq by a narrow margin, in the qualifiers of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which means China will steer clear of the stronger teams.