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Sports / Team China
China hoping for Olympian feats at Women's World Cup
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-09-07 21:11
With a Swedish coach and the "female Wayne Rooney" on their side, China
is hoping for Women's World Cup glory on home soil over the next few
weeks as a fitting prelude to next year's Beijing Olympics.
The 16-team tournament kicks off on Monday, with defending champions
Germany facing Argentina shortly after an opening ceremony at Shanghai's
newly renovated Hongkou Stadium.
Group matches will be played in five cities across China's vast expanse,
including Tianjin, host to Olympic preliminaries in 2008.
Four years later, China has pinned its hopes on a golden-haired Swede and
a stocky teenage prodigy to restore pride on home soil.
Feisty Player
Marika Domanksi-Lyfors, who took unheralded Sweden to the World Cup final
in 2003, was appointed coach in March, and given five months to galvanise
a team suffering?its worst form in years.
Much of eleventh-ranked China's prospects will hinge on 19-year-old
striker, Ma Xiaoxu, dubbed the "female Wayne Rooney".
The feisty Young Asian Player of the Year's explosive runs and eye for a
goal are seen as crucial for China to advance beyond group matches
featuring Brazil and in-form Denmark.
For Chinese organisers, perhaps more important than a crowd-pleasing
display, is a smoothly-run tournament.
As the last major international event before the 2008 Beijing Olympics,
local authorities have taken pains to renovate venues, recruit hundreds
of volunteers and draft nearly 2,000 performers for an opening ceremony
spectacular at Shanghai's Hongkou Stadium on Monday night.
"Visitors will see many soccer balls and roses during the ceremony, which
reflects the combination of strength and beauty," opening ceremony
organiser, Teng Junjie, told local media.
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