China beat Mexico 1-0 to give new coach maiden victory updated

The regrouped China women's soccer team beat Mexico 1-0 for an opening win of the year in the Four-nation Invitation Tournament here on Wednesday. The result gave China's new coach Hao Shuai a maiden victory since he took over from Li Xiaopeng after China lost the qualification for the 2012 London Olympic Games in September. A lopsided first half saw the hosts squander at least four opportunities. But their efforts paid back four minutes after the restart as Li Wen converted a long pass from the right. Mexico survived a scare in the 52nd minute. Lou Jiahui's close-range shot nearly found the net when Luz Del came to rescue and cleared ball right at the goal line. Seven minutes later, China's No. 1 star forward Ma Xiaoxu substituted Zhang Rui to 16,000 spectators' ovation. The 2006 Asia's Best Woman Player injected even more inspiration into the young team of an average age 22.8 as she, Gao Qi and Lou Jiahui tested Mexico's keeper Aurora in turn but their shots near the goal area went either high or wide. Despite the side's inability to convert opportunities into goals, Hao Shuai was satisfied with the improvement of his players, who have trained together for months. "It's the first major match for the new team," he said, "we played well for 70 minutes, but had problems in the final 20 minutes." "Generally speaking, we did well and I believe we can do better in the future. I hope the fans can give us time and support." The China squad are very different from when they lost the key Olympic qualifying match to Australia in September. Old faces like Han Duan and Bi Yan retired and many "post-90s" were enrolled. The 1996 world runners-up, now ranked record low 18th in the world, took the control from the very beginning while Mexico were unable to manage a shot until the 21th minute. The best chance for Mexicans, ranked world No. 21, came when China's Li Wen almost produced an owl goal, heading a clearance ball onto the bar. Mexico's coach Leonardo sang high praise for the opponents and was confident of China women's soccer revival. "It's a very hard game for us," he said. "China played very well. We tried to find chances all the time but couldn't. I like the new Chinese side. They play a positive and enthusiastic game. "The world women's soccer needs China come back." he added. The four-nation tournament is an annual invitation event inaugurated in 1998. The participants are the hosts China and the other three teams invited by the Chinese Football Association.