China’s Steel Roses ready for Matildas in Olympic football qualifiers
Featured photo by Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images
China’s Steel Roses have performed magnificently winning their first two Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Qualifiers and are ready to face the Matildas on Thursday night at Western Sydney Stadium at Parramatta.
On Friday night the Steel Roses defeated Thailand 6-1, followed by a 5-0 defeat of Chinese Taipei on Monday night to advance to the final stage of qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The Chinese team were too strong for Chinese Taipei with two goals to Wang Shanshan and supporting goals from Tang Jiali, Wu Haiyan and Li Ying.
Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP, Photo by JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images
The Steel Roses will now face the Australian Matildas to decide the winner of Group B of the tournament with both teams already qualified for the final stage where they will play either South Korea or Vietnam in home and away playoffs.
Steel Rose’s head coach Jia Xiuquan praised his team’s efforts saying:
We have been through a lot of troubles in our preparation but we are strong in mentality and teamwork and the most important thing is we won the match and qualified for the final Olympic playoffs.
Looking ahead to the Matilda’s match on Thursday night in Parramatta, Xiuquan said: “Before we have trained for some time in Australia and we are getting used to their playing style.”
Michael Deng, President of the Australian Chinese Sports Club is proud of the Steel Rose’s performance: “Our women’s team has performed with great spirit and the community is very proud of them. We know what they have been through and are looking forward to giving them our full support on Thursday night against the Matildas.”
Olympic Football Tournament Qualifiers Details:
Thursday, 13 February 2020
China PR v Australia @ 7.30pm (AEDT)
Western Sydney Stadium, Parramatta
Tickets & more info: http://bit.ly/FFAfeb13
