China came from behind to beat Australia on penalties, winning
their eighth AFC women's Asian Cup on Sunday.
The victory marks the nation's return to winning ways after
semi-final and final defeats to the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (DPRK) in 2001 and 2003.
With a fast attacking flow in the second half, China came from
behind to neutralize a two-goal deficit through Han Duan (68) and
Ma Xiaoxu (73), who was named Most Valuable Player, forcing the
match into extra-time after Caitlin Munoz had scored the first goal
for Tom Sermanni's side on 28 minutes and Peters made it 2-0 on 33
minutes.
China replaced goalkeepers with Zhang Yanru coming off the
substitutes' bench at the end of extra time, displacing starting
goalkeeper Han Wenxia.
The substitution proved decisive with Zhang saving two penalties
from Collette McCallum and Joanne Peters while China converted all
their attempts to win 4-2 on penalties.
"I am so excited to be a part of the success like this," said
Zhang. "I can feel the support from my team-mates and coaches. It's
a hard-gained win for all of us and this is what we've been
expecting for many years."
Head coach Ma Liangxing echoed Zhang's words, saying the
long-awaited trophy would inspire the players of the future.
"I can't believe we came back from two goals down but I never
lost confidence in my players," he said. "This victory will be very
important in increasing the confidence of my players. It will be
very positive in the long run."
Australia won the last penalty shoot-out between the two
countries, 5-4 in Shanghai in 2000.
Before the final, Australia had played China 26 times coming
away as the losing side 16 times, with seven games ending in a
draw. The last two clashes between the two, as recently as last
month, ended in China's favour.
Australia, playing in their first Asian Cup final since joining
the Asian confederation on January 1, looked on target to win the
tournament with first-half goals through when Caitlin Munoz (29th
minute) and Peters (33rd minute).
China as hosts and finalists and Australia have already booked
their berths in next year's FIFA World Cup with the DPRK joining
them after beating Japan 3-2 in the play-off for third place
earlier yesterday.
(China Daily July 31, 2006)
