Women’s Asian Football Cup 2010 underway
With the entire buzz surrounding the FIFA World Cup that is due to start next month, people would have assumed that women’s football would take a back seat. But that is not how the script is going to continue. The 17th Asian Federation Conference, which is also known as the Women’s Asian Cup is underway in China. The host team registered their first win in a match against Vietnam, hammering them five goals in a group B encounter. The win means that lady luck is shining on the hosts’ as the door to their entry into the semi-finals may have opened. Earlier in their first match, the hosts were held to a goalless draw by South Korea. Australia has already booked a spot in the semi-finals after beating South Korea by three goals to one.
The crucial tie between China and Vietnam was held at the Chengdu Shuangliu Sports centre. China was riding on a high with an air of confidence that they had reached ten out of the eleven AFC Championship finals. As a result, they dominated Vietnam from the word go. The coach of the women’s team was satisfied with their performance, saying the team performed like a unit since the friendly match between China and Thailand. The coach had faith in the young Chinese players that they would not look back from here and will perform even better in the upcoming matches.
The scoring was opened for the Chinese team by Li Danyang in the seventh minute after heading the ball from a fine cross by Liu Huauna into the back of the net. Four minutes later, the Chinese women increased their lead by two goals to nil after a corner kick by captain Bi Yan was netted by Yuan Fan.
The misery for the Vietnamese continued as goals from the Chinese corner kept increasing the points tally. A remarkable goal by Zhang Rui in the thirty sixth minute of the game was an eye opener, after she evaded two defenders and drove in a long shot. It seemed as if the first half was packed with action when frustration on the part of the Vietnamese team handed a penalty kick to the hosts. China’s goal scorer Li Danyang was tackled during her solo drive. It was Captain Bi who took charge and did not let the opportunity slip by, netting the ball into the goal and taking the scoreline to four goals to nil.
The Vietnamese were given a chance to heave a sigh of relief during the half-time in order to regroup in a face saving attempt. However, this proved to be a shot in the dark as their miseries were further compounded in the forty ninth minute of the match. Han Duan’s long range shot landed in the bottom right corner of the Vietnamese net. The hosts were ecstatic and the margin was extended to five goals. The goal quashed all Vietnamese hopes and they seemed down and out from their body language.
This victory has propelled China to the second spot with four points in Group B, pushing the Vietnamese to the last spot. Australia is on the top of the table with six points and South Korea is in the third place.
Australia handed defeat to the South Koreans earlier in the day by three goals to one after a goalless first half. As the second half kicked off, the Australians picked up steam and a corner from Heather Garriock was netted by Kim Caroll in the fifty secong minute. Shortly afterwards, Lisa De Venna scored a powerful goal into an unguarded net. Australia increased their lead to three goals in the sixty fourth minute. However, a resilient South Korean team came back in the seventieth minute at the hands of defender Kang Sun Mi. Nevertheless, the game was out of the South Korean’s reach, and ultimately the disappointed coach refused to address a press conference due to his teams’ poor performance and missed chances.
The upcoming matches’ include China, which would face-off against the mighty Australians while South Korea will play against the Vietnamese team.
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