China coach Ma Liangxing :

"I was very happy with the performance of the young players in our team, especially Han Duan and Li Jie. Our first priority is to qualify for the next stage of the tournament and our approach is to play aggressive attacking football. From a psychological point of view the first match is always the hardest and it was evident that my players were excited and nervous especially in the second half. I am confident that our next matches will be much more entertaining as the players can approach these with a much more relaxed attitude."

China forward Sun Wen:

On this team compared to the team from 1999:
"This team is not as good as four years ago, but it is not really indicative since this is the first game."

On your team's expectations for progressing through the tournament:
"We will not go far if we play like we did tonight. It takes time; too hard to tell just after tonight’s game.

On losing the chance to host the Women's World Cup:
"On the one hand we lost our fans from home in China, but on the other hand we have less pressure on our young players."

On your toughest competition in the tournament:
"The USA, Germany and Sweden will be the toughest opponents. But it is whoever plays well as a team that will go the farthest."

On the 1999 defeat in the Finals being fresh on your team’s minds:
"We hear about those finals constantly, but to us it is history. We were never resentful; again, it is in the past."

On Australia, China's opponent on Thursday:
"They present us with a different type of challenge than Ghana. The Australians have more fighting spirit and we will have to match that intensity to prevail."

On having trouble scoring tonight with 15 shots and just one goal:
"We were not relaxed tonight. The first game is always the hardest to perform."

On her recent Adidas commercial:
"It was difficult to make, but also very interesting. We tried to make it funny but it was very hard to make." Enditem(FIFAworldcup.com)

Close

Today's Top News		Top Sports News
+Focus: China embarks on civil service reforms ( 2003-09-23) +Criticism about renminbi refuted ( 2003-09-23) +SCO FMs meet for talks on co-operation ( 2003-09-23) +The short and not-so-sweet of it ( 2003-09-23) +Unions' role in protecting workers' rights recognized ( 2003-09-23)		+Ma Liangxing: “The first match is always the hardest” ( 2003-09-23) +Technical Analysis: China's form will improve during the tournament ( 2003-09-23) +Sun worried about China's bad form ( 2003-09-23) +Top four all eyes the title; China vows to avenge ( 2003-09-23) +Chinese, US experts discuss Olympic security ( 2003-09-23)