China’s women look to restore credibility at WCup
Print Edition
RICH in potential but poor in experience, China’s women are targeting a berth in the knockout rounds at the World Cup in Canada to atone for the humiliation of failing to qualify for the last tournament in 2011.
Sixteenth-ranked China faces an uphill battle to advance, however, having been drawn in Group A with hosts Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand. China faces Canada in the tournament opener on Saturday.
Breaking through to the last 16 would be a sparkling achievement for head coach Hao Wei, who has put his faith in youth since taking over a demoralized team in 2011.
China’s women have been known as the “Steel Roses” by home media since their brave run to the final of the 1999 tournament but showed little backbone in the aftermath of their quarterfinal exit in 2007.
Having featured at all five previous tournaments, their failure to qualify for the 2011 finals in Germany was considered a national disgrace.
Tasked with restoring China’s reputation, young coach Hao cleaned out the ranks and his side reached the semifinals of the Asian Cup last year to qualify automatically for Canada.
Though lacking the fire-power of the top sides, China boasts ample stamina and will hope to pinch goals on the counter-attack if its much-improved defense can hold firm.
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