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ALBUFEIRA, Portugal, March 2 (Xinhua) -- One day after a 1-0 loss to the Netherlands in their debut at 2017 Algarve Cup, China women's football team hoped that they could make a comeback in the next match against Sweden after the traning session here on Thursday.
"We fought hard yesterday, but it's a fact that we had a huge gap from the European opponents in our power and competitiveness. We could not heat up early into the game, and gave them the opportunity to score," admitted captain Ren Guixin, who played full-back against the Netherlands.
After claiming two champions in four-team warm-up competitions after the Rio Olympic Games, China could expect a much tougher challenge as they were placed in Group C in southern Portugal, with the Netherlands, Sweden and Australia all higher than them on FIFA world rankings.
"We haven't met such a tough opponent for quite a long time. I think we should forget that loss, and show our characteristics in the next match," Ren added.
Her opinion was echoed by right back Gao Chen, whose side was taken advantage of by Renate Jansen to score in the 12th minute.
"We didn't position ourselves right in defense, and gave them the chance to pass and score," said Gao, adding that it will prove more value to the team when they face tougher opponents.
China will meet world No. 8 Sweden, who won Wednesday's game 1-0 against Australia, in San Antonio on Friday.
"They are the silver medalists in Rio, and have many high-caliber players. We need to put what we have trained into the game. Hopefully we can win in the end," commented Ren.
