Substitute Song Xiaoli fired an incredible long shot home in the
88th minute to earn hosts China the crucial three points in the
FIFA Women's World Cup Group D opener against Denmark in Wuhan on
Wednesday.
China head coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors said, "We did a very
good job in the midfield defense and our quick-pace attacks worked
well today."
"And the whole team was in top form and high morale. We deserve
the win," said Domanski-Lyfors, who led Sweden to the 2003 World
Cup runners-up.
Enjoying a 2-0 lead but being tied 2-2 in last minutes, China
finally edged Denmark 3-2 to follow Brazil, who trounced New
Zealand 5-0 earlier today, on the Group D standings.
Denmark's coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller had said on Tuesday that
the winner of this match would be one leg into the knockout stage.
However, the luck was not on his side tonight.
The upset Heiner-Moller said after the match that he thought his
team played well but unfortunately they lost.
"I thought that a tie might be the most reasonable result," he
said. His remarks were supported by only one item in the
statistics. The Danes got 55 percent against 45 percent for China
in ball possession.
China boast head-to-head results of seven wins, three ties and
one loss against Denmark in world arena before tonight's clash,
including a 2-2 draw in 1991 World Cup in China and 3-1 win in 1995
edition in Sweden.
In tonight's breath-taking duel, the stalwart Chinese girls
launched waves of attacks from the very beginning, making four
shots (three on targets) and four corner kicks against Denmark's
1-1 record in the first ten minutes.
When the match returned to a balance, Chinese midfielder Bi Yan
earned a free kick through her swift dribbling in the arc. Defender
Li Jie looped a wonderful curling shot that found the top right
corner of the net.
Li Jie said after the match, "We have practiced on spot kicks
for quite some time. We focus on it recently. And when Bi Yan
created that free kick, I remembered how I scored on such a spot
during training."
China's Li Jie (second from
right) is jubilant after scoring China's first goal during its
Group D match against Denmark at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in
Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province,
yesterday.
Trailing 1-0, the Danes, who boast the advantage in stamina and
physiques, played more fiercely and the pace of the match turned
from quicker to the quickest.
A powerful long shot near the arc by Bi Yan lifted China to 2-0
lead in the 50th minute. The ball hit a defender's leg and
deflected into the Danes' net.
However, the Danes cut the deficit to one goal only after one
minute when striker Anne Dot Eggers Nielsen headed a left-wing
cross into the Chinese goal.
In the remaining 40 minutes, both sides continued their
tit-for-tat confrontation. China missed two great chances to widen
the gap, one on Ma Xiaoxu's solo run from the left wing and the
other on Bi Yan's long shot at the same spot where she scored.
China's Ma Xiaoxu (left) takes a shot at goal
as Denmark's Mariann Gajhede challenges during their Group D match
at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in Wuhan, Hubei Province,
yesterday.
Ma Xiaoxu, China's new No. 10, shone last year with her Golden
Ball and Golden Shoe at FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and the AFC
Women's Player of the Year award.
Despite no scoring, Ma was defined as the Player of the Match
through her quick-pace dribbling and never-say-die spirit on the
pitch.
The Danes also squandered several scoring chances, but they
cashed one in the 87th minute when midfielder Cathrine Paaske
Sorensen jumped high to head a right-wing cross home.
Li Jie said, "When the scoreboard turned to 2-2,?no Chinese
player gave up."
"We had promised our fans to never give up at any moment. We
would fight to the last second and we did it tonight," she
noted.
As most of the fans thought of a regrettable tie, midfielder
Song Xiaoli, who replaced exhausted Qu Feifei in the 58th minute,
rewrote the scoreboard in just one minute to seal the win for
China, who set a target of entering the top four of the tournament
on home soil.
(Xinhua News Agency September 13, 2007)
