China got off to an ominous start in the Algarve cup women's soccer tournament on Wednesday as a fluke goal condemned them to a 1-0 loss to Denmark in their first group match.
Denmark scored the goal on their first attack in the first minute when midfielder Theresa Nielsen unleased a fluffy shot, China goalkeeper Zhang Yanru seemed ready to save it, but was left helpless as the ball deflected on defender Wang Dongni and rolled into the corner.
Li Xiaopeng, head coach of the Chinese team, said his side could do nothing about the fluke strike by Nielsen.
"Zhang made a correct judgement and was ready to save the shot, which seemed to be easy, but it was reflected midway to beat her, I am sorry for her," he said.
Li's Denmark counterpart Kenneth Heiner-Moller conceded that the goal was a fluke strike.
"It's a lucky goal, a deflected one, and sometimes in football you need luck to win," he said.
China, which competed in the tournament in preparation for the September Olympic qualifiers, tried in vain to equalize.
"My players fought very hard, and I was satisfied with their spirit, but they lacked cutting edge up front," said Li.
China got the upper hand in the match, but could not convert their advantage into goal, which made noticeable the absence of their ace strikers Ma Xiaoxu and Han Duan.
Li hoped Ma and Han, who skipped the tournament due to injuries, could recover in time for the Olympic qualifiers.
"We have a very limited pool in China to select players for the national team, I hope Ma and Han could be fit to help us in the Olympic qualifiers," he said.
China will play against Iceland on Friday in their second group match.
