China draw with South Korea in women's East Asian Cup opener

China played to a 2-2 draw with hosts South Korea in their opening game of the EAFF Women's E-1 Football Championship, also known as the East Asian Cup, on Wednesday.

China opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Yao Wei struck from distance. South Korea responded with increased pressing and created several chances before Jang Sel-gi netted the equalizer in first-half stoppage time.

In the 67th minute, Yao turned provider, heading an assist to Shao Ziqin, who nodded home to restore China's lead. Nonetheless, deep into stoppage time, Ji So-yun salvaged a dramatic draw for South Korea with a long-range strike.

"We expected a tough game between two decent teams in Asia, playing under difficult conditions," said China's head coach Ante Milicic after the game. "We're obviously disappointed to have conceded two goals, both in injury time of the first half and second half."

Milicic said he was proud of his team's effort. "Playing away against a strong home crowd is never easy, and this kind of situation happened to us before, like when we played Australia," he added. "Tonight we were so close, and I thought the girls deserved to hang on for the win."

"Still, I think they will gain confidence from taking the lead twice against such a strong opponent. We just need to look at why we're conceding late and giving these [chances] away, because looking ahead to the Asian Cup, we will definitely need to hold on [to our leads]," Milicic noted.

Chinese player Wang Shuang said the team remains young and needs more time to build chemistry and improve understanding on the field. "We will give our all to perform well in the upcoming matches," she added.