Ma Xiaoxu's goal pushed China to a 1-0 victory over North Korea to
win the AFC Under-19 Women's Championship at the Cheras Stadium in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday.
China and North Korea sailed into the final of the tournament
after beating Japan 6-4 (penalty shoot-out) and Australia 4-2
respectively in the semis.
In the first half, China had the ball in the net as early as the
ninth minute but Zi Jingjing was judged offside. North Korea then
dominated most of the match, but their attacks at goal were fended
off by China's goalie Zhang Yanru, who played a spectacular game.
The match was tied at 0-0 at halftime.
The second half saw a more defensive play from the Chinese until
the 76th minute when they stripped the ball in the backfield. Zhang
Wei curled it to the inside setting up Ma Xiaoxu, just off the
bench, to score the deciding goal.
With 10 goals, Ma was top scorer of the tournament, having also
scored the winning goal in the penalty shootout against Japan in
the semis, seven when China thrashed Malaysia 22-0, and two in the
9-0 trouncing of Jordan.
"We were shorthanded in our line-up and had several injured
players, so I made up my mind on counter-attack tactics. I'm very
happy that we seized the one opportunity in the second half. It was
a tough tournament but we made it," said the jubilant Chinese coach
Shang Ruihua.
This is the first time that China has come out on top at the
biennial tournament. They were second runners-up in the first
championship in India in 2002, and runners-up in China in 2004.
(China.org.cn by Li Xiao April 19, 2006)
