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Coach Ma Liangxing took the opportunity to try out a number of new players. Most significantly, Sun Rui made her first international appearance in place of veteran Wang Liping at right back. And, Ren Liping stepped in at right midfield to replace Zhang Ouying, who has only just returned from playing in WUSA.

Sunny shooting in the rain

Played in a light rain, neither side was able to make much of an impression in the first half. Having been reproached by her coach earlier in the week for passing too much, Sun Wen was shooting for goal at every opportunity.

“A striker’s job is to score goals,” reasoned the coach Ma. “If you don’t create opportunities and take your chances, you aren’t going to score.”

In the end, Sunny was unable to find the net, but in the wet conditions her powerful shooting put the Nigerians on their back feet. The African champions were thus utilising their speed and strength more to break up Chinese attacks outside their box than to venture forward. The relentless Chinese midfield could not find a way through the determined Super Falcons and the teams went into the break scoreless.

Nigerian coach Sam Okpodu obviously insisted his team be more ambitious in attack in the second period, and his team were certainly more dangerous after the break. But, as their counterattacks began to be more successful, they also left themselves open to the Chinese forward line.

Bai Jie gets the opportunities

Bai Jie in particular seemed to be getting all the chances. In the 59th minute, Zhang Ouying crossed for her only to head the ball just wide of the right post. Just minutes later, Sun Wen intercepted a loose pass in midfield, beat two defenders and found Zhang Ouying on the right. Zhang pulled the ball back from the touchline to Bai Jie, whose snapshot was well stopped by the Nigerian goalkeeper.

It was a case of third time lucky for Bai Jie in the 64th minute, when Pu Wei’s pass saw her evade Nigeria’s offside trap and tuck the ball into the bottom right corner.

Emotions ran high on both sides after the goal - the Nigerians felt as though there had been a handball before the strike - and the pace of the game quickened noticeably. That suited China’s combination play, and they created a number of opportunities on the break.

In the final minutes both sides missed gilt-edged chances. First, Sun Wen shot wide from a useful position and then it was Nigeria’s turn to waste a great chance when the ball was whipped across goal but found no takers.

After the final whistle, the goal scorer, Bai Jie said, “It was a hard-fought victory. Both sides put a lot into the game, and we were able to see the fruits of our hard work in training over the past few weeks.”

China play Nigeria again in a second warm-up match in Lin Yi on 25 August before taking on group rival Australia on the 28th in Jinan and on the 31st in Qingdao. They round off their China-based preparations with matches against South Africa in Dalian on 4 and 7 September.

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