Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Chengdu: China coach Shang Ruihua was delighted with the significant and dramatic improvement as the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2010 hosts got their campaign firmly back on track with a 5-0 win over Vietnam on Friday at Shuangliu Sports Centre.
A lacklustre China were lucky to earn a point from Wednesday's Group B opener against Korea Republic, but the 2008 runners-up moved within a point of the semi-finals with a composed and professional performance.
Goals from defenders Li Danyang and Yuan Fan had China two goals ahead after just 12 minutes and after a superb solo run and finish from midfielder Zhang Rui, captain Bi Yan added the fourth on the stroke of half-time.
Even with Shang using the opportunity to rest Bi and striker Xu Yuan, China continued the dominance after the break with a header from fit-again striker Han Duan at the start of the second half wrapping up the win.
“All the starting players played to their form very quickly and we got an early goal which made the game go smoothly. The passing has also improved a lot and this is a very good thing for us,” said Shang.
“It is always difficult to break up a team which is based totally on defending, but we got an early goal so I am very happy.
“In the first game the players were a little tense, but this time they were much better and I believe we have a lot more to offer in the upcoming games.”
Shang picked out the performance of full-back Li, who also contributed an assist, to highlight China's improvements from the goalless draw with Korea.
“The last game was her worst game in six months so we showed her the video,” added Shang.
“She has a lot of potential and against Vietnam we needed to attack on the wings so we needed our wing backs to overlap more and I required her to run more and she did.”
Opposite number Vue Ba Dong, meanwhile, remained upbeat despite the defeat ending Vietnam's campaign following the 2-0 lose to Australia.
“China played very well and showed their strength but despite the score we are very satisfied as the players have tried their best,” he said.
“China are much stronger than us, but what I am satisfied with is that when we conceded an early goal, the team still tried to maintain their play and follow the plans.”