Coach praises eves ahead of Brazil test
Print Edition
FORMER France coach Bruno Bini believes China’s women footballers “work harder and complain less” than his former team as they prepare to face Brazil in a daunting Olympic football opener tonight.
China, silver medalist when women’s football made its debut at the Olympics in 1996, returns to the games following an eight-year hiatus after failing to qualify for London four years ago. But the Asian giant’s reward for reaching Rio de Janeiro is a difficult task against hosts Brazil at the Olympic Stadium.
Nevertheless Bini, who coached France to the World Cup semifinals in 2011, says his confident side is capable of upsetting Brazil as it embarks on its Olympic adventure.
And the eccentric coach, who has in the past had a habit of reading poetry to his players or screening inspirational movies on the eve of matches instead of giving formal team talks, believes China’s work ethic could hold the key to its campaign.
“Maybe we are not as strong as other teams, but we work harder,” Bini said on Monday.
“To make a long sentence short, if I compare the Chinese team to the French team, Chinese women work harder and they complain much less,” he added.
China has recorded a series of encouraging results since Bini took over, beating world champion the US 1-0 in New Orleans in December, the first game in a 13-match unbeaten run.
Back-to-back defeats against France (0-3) and Canada (0-1) in Paris earlier this month jolted its confidence but Bini says his team is optimistic. “Expectations are high and we know our responsibilities at this time. The team have been training for 1-1/2 years so the athletes know very well our pattern for matches.”
China faces Brazil, South Africa and Sweden in the group phase which gets under way today, two days before the formal opening of the games.
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