China lose to the Netherlands 1-0 in 2017 Algarve Cup debut

The Chinese women's football team lost their opening match at the 2017 Algarve Cup 1-0 to their counterparts of the Netherlands here on Wednesday.

Renate Jansen had the only goal of the match for the Netherlands 12 minutes into the game, also seeing her team's another three shots either on the bar or on the post.

It was pretty tough for the 13th-ranked China in Group C in their 21st appearance at this tournament, as they will face three opponents all higher than them on FIFA world rankings.

Facing up the Netherlands, who sat one place ahead of them, China suffered an early goal from their opponents in the 12th minute, as Jansen's low shot from the left got past goalkeeper Zhao Lina.

"We played quite bad in the first 25 minutes," admitted Bruno Bini, the Chinese team's head coach.

China got their best chance in the first half two minutes later, as Zhang Rui's shot was blocked by goalie Angela Christ, and the latter made a swift save in front of the goal line.

Taking 0-1 back to the locker room, China made player substitution early in the second half with Wang Shanshan up front in place of Tang Jiali.

Striking duo Wang Shanshan and Wang Shuang created some chances, which China could not convert into a goal. The Netherlands had one shot hit on the bar, another on the post.

"We did better in the second half, but it was a pity that we did a poor job in putting the ball into goal," said Bruno, adding that his side was punished for poor performance at the start.

"After we scored early in the first half, we could control the game. We put more pressure on China after the restart, but they also could get more space, and they used the space better than we did," commented Dutch head coach Sarina Wiegman.

China will meet world No. 8 Sweden in Santo Antonio on Friday, and the Netherlands' next opponents will be Australia. Endit