Tokyo Olympics: Chinese football humiliation sees fans call for sacking of coach Jia Xiuquan
- ‘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?’
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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.”
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.
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“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.
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.
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?”
