Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Ho Chi Minh City: Goal number one has been reached according to China coach Hao Wei after he saw his side double-up to simultaneously secure a place in the semi-finals of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup and a ticket to the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Myanmar on Saturday at Thong Nhat Stadium.
Goals from Ren Guixin and Ma Xiaouxu either side of half-time put the eight-time continental champions in the driving seat before striker Yang Li netted her tournament-leading fifth in the dying minutes to add gloss to the scoreline.
As well as assuring the Steel Roses of progression from Group A into the knockout stages of the Asian championship, the place in the final four brings with it automatic qualification into next year’s World Cup in Canada.
“I’d like to congratulate my team for achieving the basic goal of our side which was to qualify for the semi-final of this tournament and the World Cup,” said coach Hao after his side had achieved a place at their sixth World Cup finals after missing out on the 2011 tournament.
“Myanmar made it very difficult for us with their ultra-defensive style and it was very hard for my players to break them down and perform their attacking combinations with, at times, 21 players in one half of the field.
“We tried to rotate our players a little in this game and my aim was to give different players a chance to perform on the field, so I am not too worried about the margin of victory, simply that we achieved it.”
For Hao’s opposite number, Yoshinori Kumada, the result, coming as it did on the back of 12-0 thrashing by Korea Republic in their group opener, was a relatively positive one.
The Japanese coach was pleased with the signs of improvement shown, particularly with their crucial third group stage game on the horizon against Thailand to come.
The showdown between the Southeast Asian rivals could decide the participant in the fifth-place playoff and the final ticket for the World Cup.
“We defended as we had planned to do today, but we cannot say we did the best job because we lost three goals – we’d prefer not to concede any! However, against one of the strongest teams in Asia in China, and with the way we performed, I can say this was still a good result and performance from my team,” said coach Kumada.
“We often have slow starts at tournaments and we often have poor experiences in our opening fixtures. However, as we’ve seen here today, we do have a good habit: that we get better and better as competitions progress and we acclimatise to the conditions and improve our form. This gives us hope for the match with Thailand.”