GUANGZHOU - Chinese women's soccer coach Li Xiaopeng was confident that his side had a good future despite failing to reach final after an extra-time 1-0 defeat to Japan at the Asian Games.
Both sides failed to score in the regular 90 minutes. Japan's forward Shinobu Ohno capitalised on Chinese defender's carelessness and was unmarked to strike the winner after keeper Zhang Yue failed to punch the ball far away in the 108th minute.
Although failing to repeat the host's triumphs in 1990, 1994 and 1998 since women's soccer has been included into the Asian Games, Li showed his belief to this young squad.
"Our players on the field are mostly under the age of 23 or even 21. They showed their energetic spirit today. I'm sure they will have a good future," Li added.
Li's comments were also echoed by the Japanese coach.
"We have much more experienced players compared to China in this game. And their young players showed great potentials," Norio Sasaki said after the 120-minute battle.
The host side cheered a sold-out Yuexiu stadium four minutes before the break. Pang Fengyue netted with a brilliant volley shot after her teammate cut in from the right flank.
However, the referee whistled it off and thought the ball had crossed the bottom line before it was passed to Pang.
On the controversial judge, Li didn't complain too much.
"I obeyed the referee's decision. If we were strong and mature enough, I'm sure there are few disputes. We should find problems from ourselves." said Li.
The defeat reduced China's advantageous record against Japan to three wins, two losses and two draws in their seven total clashes at Asiad.
Japan had to wait to know their next opponent when the other semifinal between DPR Korea and South Korea will be played later on the day.
Students take charge of sports presentation at Asian Games
