Players of China celebrate after eliminating South Korea in the AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, April 13, 2021. /CFP
Players of China celebrate after eliminating South Korea in the AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, April 13, 2021. /CFP
The draw results of the Tokyo Olympics football tournaments were announced on Wednesday. China, which knocked out South Korea last week to secure qualification for the women's contest, are in Group F with Brazil, the Netherlands and Zambia.
The other two groups are: Japan, Canada, Great Britain and Chile in Group E and Sweden, U.S., Australia, and New Zealand in Group G.
The top two teams in each group and the two best-performing No. 3 teams will make it to the elimination stage. The good news for China is that they managed to avoid the U.S., which have won four Olympic gold medals for women's football.
However, that does not make competitions in Group F a picnic. Both the Netherlands and Brazil are powerful teams as well. China, as the world's No. 14, are only ranked higher than three of the other 11 teams – Chile, Zambia and New Zealand.
Debinha (#9) of Brazil celebrates after scoring a goal in the SheBelieves Cup game against Canada at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida, U.S., February 24, 2021. /CFP
Debinha (#9) of Brazil celebrates after scoring a goal in the SheBelieves Cup game against Canada at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida, U.S., February 24, 2021. /CFP
When asked what he thinks of the draw result, China's manager Jia Xiuquan, said there's no easy group or opponent at all. According to him, every one of the 12 teams has to overcome great difficulties to go to Tokyo so no one should be underestimated with their determination and will to win. Jia is convinced that his players must give "200 percent" of efforts in each of the games.
China will play Brazil, Zambia and the Netherlands on July 21, 24 and 27 respectively. Here are a few things they should know about their opponents:
Brazil is No. 7 in the world and they have won seven Copa América Femenina titles as well as two Olympic silver medals.
The Netherlands team is the world's No. 3. They won the title of the UEFA European Women's Championship in 2017 and were runner-up in the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2019.
Zambia is No. 104 in the world and it will be their Olympic debut in Tokyo. Yet, they knocked out Africa's traditional heavyweights Cameroon in the qualification, indicating Zambia shouldn't be overlooked.
Vivianne Miedema (#9) of the Netherlands dribbles the ball in a warm-up game against Australia at the Goffert Stadium in Nijmegen, Netherlands, April 13, 2021. /CFP
Vivianne Miedema (#9) of the Netherlands dribbles the ball in a warm-up game against Australia at the Goffert Stadium in Nijmegen, Netherlands, April 13, 2021. /CFP
Men's draw results are the following:
Group A: Japan, South Africa, Mexico, France.
Group B: New Zealand, South Korea, Honduras, Romania.
Group C: Egypt, Spain, Argentina, Australia.
Group D: Brazil, Germany, Côte d'Ivoire, Saudi Arabia.