The misery for China's women's soccer head coach Elisabeth Loisel looks to continue after a crushing 4-0 loss to the US in the opening game of the Algarve Cup on Wednesday.
The embattled Frenchwoman has been in the hot seat since her rift with Chinese officials became public last month. She has tried to inspire her team to perform well so she could win the upper hand.
But the team failed to deliver any inspired performances at last month's East Asian Championships, including a lackluster 0-0 draw with North Korea and a shocking 0-3 loss to Japan.
Things did not get any better after the Championships as China lost to Germany's second team 0-2 in a friendly late last month.
Some speculation emerged prior to the Algarve Cup that team official Zhang Jianqiang - the official in the row with Loisel - would be sacked soon, an indication Loisel had indeed gained an upper hand in the rift.
But a chief official from the China Football Association (CFA), the sport's governing body, dismissed those reports and insisted Zhang would stay.
However, the under-pressure Loisel laid the cards on the table and asked CFA to replace Zhang if it wants keep her as coach.
"I expressed my ideas (of replacing Zhang) to Yang Yimin (CFA vice-president). He did not give me the answer and just said he himself will stay in the team," Loisel told Titan Sports.
"But it's impossible for a CFA vice-president to stay in the team forever, and this is not a good way to solve the problem."
According to reports, the dispute between Loisel and Zhang first became known last month as Chinese officials and some players accused Loisel of frequently arriving late for daily training.
The quarrel escalated when Loisel ordered players not to attend a hotpot dinner arranged by Zhang because of dietary concerns. Zhang and Chinese officials hit back, overruling the hotpot ban and issuing a public rebuke against her, ordering Loisel to keep out of off-pitch affairs.
Loisel, who has avoided the topic in front of media in the past month, finally broke her silence after China's 0-2 loss to Germany on February 28, a warm-up for the Algarve Cup.
"Zhang and the Chinese team tried every way possible to kick me out of the team," Loisel said. "I was only late for training once in my time on the coaching post. It was two minutes because I had a phone call with my father who was badly ill.
"To go out for hotpot dinner is against the team rule as we just finished training and also had competition the next day. But my interpreter told me, 'We will go out for dinner even without you.' I am the head coach and they did not show any respect for my decision."
This is the first Algarve Cup for Loisel as China's coach. But it appears she is losing her stamina in the face of intense criticism, refusing to take any responsibility for China's loss this time despite the disastrous result.
"I am not responsible for the loss. Our players should take all the responsibility as they made too many mistakes. I am afraid I cannot create miracles as the US is stronger in many ways and we cannot change it in a short time."
(China Daily March 7, 2008)