Suzhou, China, April 13, 2021: China’s Steel Roses booked their place in the women’s football tournament at Tokyo 2020 after a tense and breathless 2-2 draw in the second leg of their Asian play-off against Korea earned them a 4-3 aggregate victory on Tuesday.
China had won the first leg 2-1 in Goyang city, Korea on April 8 and were red-hot favourites to finish the job at home in the second leg.
The Taeguk Ladies, however, had other ideas and swept into a 2-0 lead at half-time, giving them the advantage 3-2 with 45 minutes remaining and putting them on course for a first appearance in the Olympic Games.
China pulled one back in the second half to make it 3-3 on aggregate and force the tie into extra time, and the decisive goal came 13 minutes into the first period from Player of the Match Wang Shuang.
It was an epic encounter between two desperate teams, with suspended Chinese captain Wu Haiyan's tears of joy indicative of her side's relief as they celebrated in front of 13,500 fans at Suzhou Olympic Sports Stadium.
China head coach Jia Xiuquan praised his players for the spirit they showed in defeating Korea to claim the final Asian ticket to Tokyo 2020.
"The match was even harder than I expected,” Jia told the Asian Football Confederation.
“I would like to thank all my players for not giving up when we were 0-2 behind. As long as they can carry on the spirit, I believe that our team will become better and better. My players were under great pressure, and I am very proud of what they did on the pitch. They kept going until the last minute of a two-hour long match.”
The 12 teams to have qualified for Tokyo 2020 are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, USA, Zambia. The draw will be held on April 21.
Source: https://www.the-afc.com