For Chinese, 2-0 Victory Is No Sweat
To China Coach Ma Yuanan, his team’s Women’s World Cup quarterfinal match against Russia Wednesday in the furnace called Spartan Stadium was a test of wills.
“This is a very cruel game,” he said. “I think the Russian team was more nervous than us. Therefore, Russia didn’t play at its best.”
China could hardly have played better.
Despite blistering heat, the Chinese dominated every facet of the game and recorded a 2-0 victory before a crowd of 21,411, earning a semifinal berth against world champion Norway Sunday at Foxboro, Mass., and ending Russia’s World Cup debut. “Good game,” said Chinese goalkeeper Gao Hong, who faced one shot in each half and had to make only one save, on Irina Grigorieva in the 91st minute.
“The Russians were . . .” She paused and pantomimed panting. “But I like,” she said, pointing up toward the blazing sun. “It is from God.”
China (4-0) was hardly challenged and asserted its superiority from the outset. Pu Wei scored in the 37th minute, her first goal in the World Cup, and Jin Yan further wilted the Russians’ resolve in the 56th minute, when she nudged home the rebound of a shot by Sun Wen that had hit the right goal post.
“I’m pleased with our game today because this is a game of life and death,” said Ma, whose team finished first in tough Group D and has outscored its opponents, 14-2. “If we are going back to Beijing, we will fight to the very last minute.”
China, which reached the quarterfinals of the two previous World Cups and won the silver medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, had better technique and endurance than Russia (2-2) and created countless chances before scoring. Coach Yurii Bystritzkii acknowledged his team was not up to the stiff challenge, yet he felt all was not lost.
The quarterfinals of the World Cup will determine the seven teams that will join host Australia in the Sydney Olympics; the four semifinalists will qualify, as will the three quarterfinalists that lose by the smallest margin. If the margin of defeat is the same, the losing team scoring the most goals will be ranked higher.
“Disappointed? No. Our overall objective was not to concede too many goals because a place at Sydney is at stake,” he said. “Therefore, it would be senseless for us to open up the game. . . . 0-2, in the long run, is not such a poor result.”
After creating many technically accomplished scoring chances, China scored its first goal on a shot that was neither threatening nor skillful. After Russian goalkeeper Svetlana Petko made a handful of dazzling saves, she missed a stoppable shot by Pu from about 28 yards, mistiming her dive and watching as the ball bounced under her arm and into the net.
Buoyed by cheers, clashing cymbals and chants from the Chinese fans who formed large rooting sections in the end zones, China used its speed on the wings to good advantage. “Compared to the Olympic Games in 1996, our players are much more experienced,” Ma said when asked about his team’s fitness under the duress of such heat.
They will add to that experience Sunday. “Failure is the mother of success,” Pu said. “That is what drives me.”
At least as far as Foxboro, anyway.
