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China's women footballers under pressure to clinch Olympic gold
BEIJING, Aug 23 (AFP) - China's women football team is facing a mountain of pressure to bring back gold from the Sydney games after being pipped at the post by the United States in a titanic World Cup final last year. The team was nicknamed the "Steel Roses" after they shot to fame during the politically sensitive World Cup, which came in the heated aftermath of the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. China saw the "Roses" battle as a symbolic struggle for national pride, and despite defeat in a memorable penalty shoot-out they returned as heroes. Chinese President Jiang Zemin and other Chinese leaders personally congratulated team members in an unusual showering of attention on national athletes, creating further pressure on the team to succeed. The team is also seen by Chinese fans as China's only gold medal hope in "big ball" sports, an area where the country has traditionally struggled. In a country famous for its gold medal accomplishments in "small ball" table tennis and badminton, the women's football team carries an unusually heavy burden in football-mad China. The men's football team did not qualify for the Olympics while the men's basketball team is not considered a medal prospect. "Roses" coach Ma Yuanan and skipper Sun Wen have used media interviews to play down expectations, stressing that the squad faces a tough task to advance from a first round group that includes the United States, Norway and Nigeria. Only the top two teams will advance to the semi-finals and the Chinese women's form so far this year has been patchy. They have been beaten twice by Norway -- 3-0 in March and 1-0 in July -- but they have also notched up a 1-0 win and a draw against the United States. The media has portrayed the team's upcoming battles in Sydney as "the last battle" for the "golden generation". Four likely members of the squad for Sydney have been with the team since 1996 and are now in their thirties. Ma has warned that this might prove to be a disadvantage. "If the older players can't keep up their physical ability during a game, then their experience won't be of any use on the field," he told local media earlier this month. The team has also been plagued by injuries this year, with Sun still not fully recovered from a knee ligament injury and another top player Liu Ying still undergoing physical therapy for a rib injury. In comments reflecting the frustration of the team over the pressure placed on their shoulders, skipper Sun challenged criticism of their performances in recent warm-up matches. "In the past, every time before a big match, we often lost. In the past two years, we've lost more than we've won, but back then, no one even paid any attention to us," Sun said. "Many people only knew about us after the World Cup and so all they know is that the Chinese women's soccer team are second place in the world and that the team cannot lose a game. Well, the team are not gods!" But commentators say the team still has a good fighting chance to finish a silver era with gold. Ma has not named the final squad for the Olympics yet, saying he will not do it until just before they need to board the plane in order to keep players on their toes.
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