Asia’s women’s Olympic hopefuls have plenty to live up to

Published on: 14 April 2016

Kuala Lumpur: As the dust settles on Thursday’s Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016: official draw result, join the-afc.com as we look back at previous triumphs for the continent’s footballers at the global extravaganza.

Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016: Official Draw Result

Admirable Performers

Since the introduction of the women’s football tournament at the Olympic Games in 1996, Asian sides have performed admirably and while that coveted first gold has proved elusive, the continent’s top teams have consistently proved they can compete against the powerhouses of the women’s game.

In what was a new dawn for women’s football, China shone brightly as the Steel Roses went onto win the silver medal, Asia’s best performance since Japan’s men claimed bronze at the ’68 Games in Mexico.

After comfortably seeing off Sweden (2-0) and Denmark (5-1), Ma Yuanan’s side finished top of their group after holding hosts the USA to a goalless draw before Wei Haiying scored twice in the last ten minutes as the Chinese overturned a 2-1 deficit to defeat Brazil 3-2 in the semi-finals.

China’s victory set up a final with the USA, a team that had emerged as their arch rivals having also defeated them 2-0 in the third-place play-off at the 1995 FIFA Women’s World Cup, but the Americans would once again emerge victorious when, in front of an incredible 77,000 spectators at the Sanford Stadium in Georgia, the home side ran out 2-1 winners and claim the first-ever Olympic gold in women’s football.

From the soaring highs of the silver medal win in Atlanta, China came crashing down four years later as Sydney hosted the first Olympic Games of the new millennium as Asia’s only representatives at the 2000 Olympiad narrowly missed out on a place in the semi-finals.

Things started well enough for the Steel Roses, blooming nicely under the continuing tutelage of Ma Yunan, as China opened their second Olympic campaign with a 3-1 win over Nigeria in Canberra before they faced off with familiar foes the USA.

The Americans had rubbed further salt into the wounds of China’s Atlanta ’96 defeat  by beating them again in the final of a major tournament when the USA triumphed over East Asians 5-4 on penalties in the deciding match of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, less than a year before the Sydney Games.

It was looking bleak for China when Julie Foudy, who would end her playing career with two Olympic golds and one silver medal, put the USA one-up 38 minutes into the meeting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground only for Asian women’s football legend Sun Wen to earn her side a share of the spoils.

The future AFC Hall of Fame inductee was on target again in China’s next match against Norway, but Sun’s 75th minute penalty - her tournament leading fourth of Sydney 2000 following her brace against Nigeria and fifth overall in the Olympics having scored in the final defeat four years earlier - proved to be in vain as the eventual champions ran out 2-1 winners with the Chinese bowing out at the Group Stage.

More disappointment was to follow for China at the 2004 Athens Olympics, kicking-off their third gold-medal quest with a record 8-0 hammering at the hands of recently-crowned World champions Germany, although an ever-improving Japan salvaged some pride for Asia by reaching the quarter-finals of the now ten-team tournament after opening their second Olympic participation with a 1-0 win over Sweden.

The Nadeshiko, who also took part in the inaugural tournament in 1996 where they lost all three games, couldn’t follow their maiden win with victory in the last eight, with the USA once again proving Asia’s undoing as the Americans ran out 2-1 winners en route to reaching the final for the third successive Olympics.

First time in Asia

Four years later, the women’s football tournament took place on Asian soil for the first time, with debutants DPR Korea joining Japan and hosts China at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where the number of competitors had increased to 12.

Kim Kyong-hwa’s historic goal 27 minutes into their Olympic debut against Nigeria was enough to see the North Koreans make a winning start to their maiden campaign but after losing 2-1 to Brazil a subsequent 1-0 loss to back-to-back FIFA Women’s World Cup winners Germany meant they would miss out on the knockout stage at the first time of asking.

China and Japan would have better luck than the Olympic debutants with the hosts defeating both Sweden (2-1) and Argentina (2-0) either side of a 1-1 draw with Canada to top their group undefeated, while the Nadeshiko booked their place in the quarter-finals after a draw with New Zealand (2-2) and a defeat to the USA (1-0) was followed with a 5-1 hammering of Norway.

Asia was assumed of a place in the semi-finals as China and Japan faced off in the last eight and despite having the backing of almost 30,000 fans at the Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Centre, China were unable to make the most of home field advantage, with Nadeshiko legend Homare Sawa - who was also inducted into the inaugural AFC Hall of Fame alongside Sun - opening the scoring with her third of the campaign.

Almost inevitably, Asia’s quest for that long-waited Olympic gold would end at the hands of the USA, as Japan crashed to a 4-2 defeat at the Beijing Workers Stadium before hopes of a second medal for the continents were dashed as a Fatmire Bajramaj double saw Norio Sasaki’s side lose 2-0 to Germany in the battle for bronze at the same venue.

Japan claim silver

But some 16 years after China were celebrating their silver-medal win at Atlanta ’96, an Asian side finally returned to the podium as Japan finished runners-up at London 2012 to the USA, the team that the Japanese had defeated on penalties in the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup a year earlier.

With DPR Korea missing out on progress from the Group Stage after their 2-0 victory over Colombia was followed up with back-to-back defeats by France (5-0) and the USA (1-0), the continent’s hopes of a medal once again rested on Japan.

After a stuttering start that saw Sasaki’s side follow a 2-1 win over Canada with successive goalless stalemates against Sweden and South Africa, Japan raised their game in the knockout phase as the Nadeshiko saw off Brazil in the last eight and France in the semi-finals to set up a decider with the USA.

Having scored the opener in the 2-1 win over the Brazilians in Cardiff and again breaking the deadlock as Japan defeated the French 2-0, Yuki Ogimi hit the target in the third successive knockout stage game, but her 63-minute strike at Wembley came with Japan already trailing 2-1 and was not enough to prevent the all-conquering Americans claiming their fourth gold in five women’s football tournaments at the Olympic Games.

Source: the-afc.com

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