Seven-time champions China commenced their title pursuit at the
15th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup 2006
today as they defeated first group opponents Chinese Taipei 2-0 in
Adelaide, Australia.
In the first half, China's Dalian strike duo of Han Duan and Ma
Xiaoxu set the attacking pace. They found their rhythm early and
had the ball in the net as early as the 11th minute when Han headed
to score from a Bi Yan free kick in the front field.
Chinese Taipei could have tied the game in the 33rd minute when
Li Mingshu navigated into China's penalty area, but she missed the
final shot.
The early part of second half saw a more balanced play from the
two teams until the 65th minute when Chinese Taipei's goalie Huang
Fengqiu didn't fend off a corner kick to the front of the line,
which left China's Pu Wei to clear to score the decider.
The Chinese women's team has won seven times in a row from 1987
to 1999. After grabbing the silver medal at the inaugural Women's
Olympic Football Tournament in Atlanta, the US, in 1996, the ladies
reached their zenith in 1999 by finishing runners-up at the FIFA
Women's World Cup in the US.
However, the team's performance has declined rapidly since then
due to a lack of new talent and the retirement of several key
players. Things hit rock bottom in 2004 when they were crushed by
2003 World Cup winner Germany 8-0 and failed to advance from the
group competition at the Athens Olympics.
This dismal state of affairs prompted a team reshuffle two years
ago, with sights set on next year's World Cup and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Ma Liangxing, former head coach of the national team, returned
to take charge again in March after Pei Encai stepped down from the
post.
Ma was sacked by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) after
China suffered an early 1-0 quarter-final defeat to Canada in the
fourth World Cup in 2003 in the US.
In the Algarve Cup tournament in Portugal earlier this year, Ma
led the Chinese team to a sixth-place standing with?one
win,?one draw and?two losses on aggregate, up one spot
from 2005.
?
The nine teams competing in the Asian Cup tournament, which runs
until July 30, are China, Chinese Taipei, Japan and Vietnam (Group
A); and Australia, South Korea, North Korea, Thailand and Myanmar
(Group B).
Hosts Australia dominated the Group B match-ups after commanding
victories over South Korea (4-0) on Sunday, and Myanmar (2-0)
yesterday.
Commenting on the performance of the Australians, who are
competing in the tournament for the first time, Ma Liangxing said:
"I didn't expect Australia could win so comfortably with such a big
score difference. China has one more arch rival now."
The other team that will be giving China a good run for their
money is defending champion, North Korea, who?won the Asian
Cup in 2001 and 2003.?
The Women's Asian Cup is the premier competition for AFC teams.
The competition was previously known as the AFC Women's
Championship. It was established in 1975 by the Asian Ladies
Football Confederation (ALFC), then a part of the AFC responsible
for the women's game but later amalgamated into the parent
body.
The event was held every two years from the 1980s until the AFC
recently decided to make it a quadrennial competition, like the
men's tournament. The next Women's Asian Cup will be held in
2010.
The tournament serves as the qualifiers for the 2007 FIFA
Women's World Cup. The top two teams will have two spots reserved
for them in that competition, in addition to hosts China. The team
that finishes third will have a chance to qualify by playing
against the third place finisher in the Confederation of North,
Central America and Caribbean Association of Football (CONCACAF)
league.
History of AFC Women's Asian Cup finals
1975 New Zealand 3 - 1 Thailand?
1977 Chinese Taipei 3 - 1 Thailand?
1979 Thailand 2 - 0 India?
1981?Chinese Taipei?5 - 0 Thailand?
1983 Thailand 3 - 0 India?
1986 China 2 - 0 Japan?
1989 China 1 - 0?Chinese?Taipei?
1991 China 5 - 0 Japan?
1993 China 3 - 0 North Korea?
1995 China 2 - 0 Japan?
1997 China 2 - 0 North Korea?
1999 China 3 - 0?Chinese Taipei?
2001 North Korea 2 - 0 Japan?
2003 North Korea 2 - 1 China?
(China.org.cn by Li Xiao, July 19, 2006)
