bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Jonathan White

Follow our live coverage of day five of the Tokyo Olympics here
China’s humiliated women’s football team is set to arrive back in Beijing this evening and answers will be demanded of head coach Jia Xiuquan and his staff.
Jia was asked whether he would resign in the post-match press conference following the 8-2 defeat to the Netherlands in Yokohama on Tuesday.
“It depends on the Chinese Football Association,” he said. “I haven’t thought about it.”
The Steel Roses loss to the Dutch capped off a miserable Tokyo Olympics and to add insult to injury, Zambia’s 1-0 defeat to Brazil ensured that China – the 15th best team in the world in the Fifa rankings – finished below the 104th best.


They played three, lost two, scored six, conceded 17.
This performance is worse than the last time they went out in the Olympics group stage in Athens in 2004, where they also shipped eight goals in one loss to Germany – still the Steel Roses’ record defeat. That 8-0 was the last major hand-wringing over women’s football.
Fans and pundits have called for Jia to go. They point to China’s 1-0 defeat by the Netherlands at the 2015 Fifa Women’s World Cup as to how far the Steel Roses have fallen.
Internal problems rather than inferior skills are the subject of debate while the usual gallows humour, so often found after disappointment with the men’s team, was found online.


“Does the women’s football team have to save the women’s gymnastics on the hot search list?” wrote sports reporter Yuan Ye on Weibo. “I don’t know if Chinese football wants to cry.”
Another sports reporter, Dong Lu, suggested China would have been better off not qualifying: “It was better to lose to South Korea and not enter the Olympics!”
Questions have been asked of Jia’s choice of players beyond the reasons why gay footballer Li Ying might have been overlooked.
Since Jia took over in 2018, he has snubbed several of the star players.
Chinese football fans ask if star striker Li Ying absent from Olympics for coming out
Ren Guixin has not played since the 2018 Asian Games, while Yang Lina, Pang Fengyue and Zhang Rui have often been similarly cast aside. Zhang has played 150 times for China.
Tan Ruyin has not played since the 2019 Fifa World Cup and Wang Shanshan – who scored against the Netherlands – found herself dropped in the EAFF tournament later that year.
After the 2019 East Asian Cup, Zhang Rui and Pang have failed to win selection for the national team. Gu Yasha was cut out early last year, the same for Liu Shanshan.
Li has not been picked since a training camp earlier this year while Yao Wei has not been seen since the Tokyo 2020 play-offs against South Korea.



Most recently Ma Jun, Lou Jiahui and Fifa 2015 World Cup breakout player Tang Jiali were cut at the Olympic training camp for players without similar international experience. Five of the Tokyo 2020 squad had never played for the senior women’s side.
Questions are being asked and Jia will be expected to provide the answers when it is the CFA asking them.
He was not willing to do so to the media after the 8-2 loss, instead he asked a question.
“I led the team to qualify for the Women’s World Cup, which is one of the best among Asian teams. This time the Olympics has two places in Asia, and we grabbed the second place. Do you think I succeeded or failed?”


Chinese diving star Chen Yuxi says she has received threats, denies she ‘has connections’

Chinese swimmers’ doping tests: Wada launches Operation Puncture to probe leak

China women’s volleyball coach Zhao says ‘hard work’ can take team back to top

Doping offence earns Tokyo Olympics swimming gold medallist a 21-month ban

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Tokyo Olympics: Chinese football humiliation sees fans call for sacking of coach Jia Xiuquan

China coach Jia Xiuquan reacts during the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: REUTERS

Chinese football fans ask if star striker Li Ying absent from Olympics for coming out

China’s Li Ying celebrates scoring against South Africa during the France 2019 Fifa Women's World Cup Group B football match at the Parc des Princes in Paris. Photo: AFP

(180409) -- AMMAN, April 9, 2018 (Xinhua) -- China's Li Ying celebrates scoring during the group A match between China and the Philippines at the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup, in Amman, Jordan, April 9, 2018. (Xinhua/Mohammmad Abu Ghosh)

Tokyo 2020: Siobhan Haughey’s historic silver medal celebrated by past Hong Kong Olympic swimmers

Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong looks on after winning silver in the women’s 200m freestyle final at the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: Reuters

Karen Robertson, who swam for Hong Kong at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

Ronnie Wong Man-chiu, Honorary Secretary General of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee, meets the press after an Olympic committee's extraordinary general meeting on recent athletes' complaints on the Karatedo Federation of unfair selection policies and other serious issues at Olympic House in So Kon Po. 26MAR18 SCMP / Chan Kin-wa

Hong Kong Swimming squad led by Bill Sweetenham (R, stand), Head Olympic Swim Coach, leave for Barcelona Olympic Games. 05JUL92

Tokyo 2020: Indonesian weightlifter Rahmat Erwin Abdullah matches Olympic record, says ‘it was pretty easy’

Rahmat Erwin Abdullah of Indonesia reacts after an attempt in the men's 73kg group B weightlifting event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Photo: EPA

epa09372725 Rahmat Erwin Abdullah of Indonesia competes in the Men's 73kg Group B Weightlifting event of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo International Forum in Tokyo, Japan, 28 July 2021. EPA-EFE/RITCHIE TONGO

epa09372720 Rahmat Erwin Abdullah of Indonesia competes in the Men's 73kg Group B Snatch Weightlifting event of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo International Forum in Tokyo, Japan, 28 July 2021. EPA-EFE/RITCHIE TONGO

Tokyo Olympics: Chinese table tennis team still aiming for gold after shock defeat to Japan

Japans’s Mima Ito and Jun Mizutani celebrate winning their gold medal mixed doubles match against China’s Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen. Photo: Reuters

Sport

China

Football


‘I haven’t thought about it,’ says boss after press ask him if he will resign after Tokyo 2020 drubbing – ‘It’s up to the Chinese FA’
‘I qualified for World Cup and Olympics,’ he tells media as Steel Roses exit behind Zambia in the group – ‘Do you think I succeeded or failed?’



‘I qualified for World Cup and Olympics,’ he tells media as Steel Roses exit behind Zambia in the group – ‘Do you think I succeeded or failed?’ he asks, as questions await on return to China.
