Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Wuhan: Coach Gao Hong was happy with China's progress during the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship after the hosts secured third place with a comprehensive 8-0 victory over Thailand on Sunday.
Having been defeated in dramatic fashion by DPR Korea in the semi-finals after a late Ri Hae-yon strike handed the 2007 champions a 2-1 win, Gao had to raise her team for the clash with the Southeast Asians in a re-run of the 2013 third place match which China won on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
But there was no sign of a semi-final hangover at Xinhua Road Stadium with Zhao Yujie, Wang Yanwen, Xie Qiwen and Jin Kun all on the scoresheet in the first half.
Xie’s completed hat-trick and Wang’s sixth goal of the tournament from the penalty spot put Gao’s team further ahead before substitute Shen Mengyu rounded off the scoring as China claimed third place at the continental competition for the third successive time.
“I think the whole tournament has been a great opportunity for our players to develop, and every game they have improved,” said Gao.
“Every player in our squad got the chance to play; we’ve had eight different scorers and all the other players have contributed.”
Match report: China 8-0 Thailand
Click here for match summary
The Young Steel Roses had earlier qualified for the semi-finals after topping Group A ahead of Thailand, Korea Republic and Iran.
But after Ri’s late goal cancelled out midfielder Zhang Linyan’s equaliser in the last four fixture, China also missed out on a spot at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan.
“There’s only a very little gap between us and the top teams, but our major task now is to reduce mistakes and improve,” added Gao.
“We were mentally fatigued after the game against DPR Korea as we fought for 90 minutes, but I encouraged the players to push forward today and we did very well.”
Thailand, meanwhile, will take heart from a tournament which saw them progress to the last four for the second successive time after an extremely impressive 1-0 win over 2009 champions Korea Republic saw them advance from Group A with a game to spare.
But after also opening the competition with victory over Iran, Nuengrutai Srathongvian’s side also lost heavily China in the group stage and Japan in the semi-finals.
“Overall we are really satisfied with our tournament; we have learnt a lot from both the semi-final and today’s match,” said Nuengrutai.
“We accepted from the first day that China was among the best teams in the world, so we knew the match against Korea Republic was the most important for us.
“But we lost a little confidence after the first defeat to China, and we have realised how difficult it is to play against the world class teams.
“China are at the same level as DPR Korea and they have a very good future. We think they are the best attacking team in this tournament.”
Photo: WSG