China suffered their second straight loss in the Algarve Cup women's football tournament after they succumbed to Iceland 2-1 on Friday.
Ma Jun scored a scrambled goal to put China ahead, and Margret Vidarsdottir hit in a brace to wrap up the win for Iceland.
Vidarsdottir found the net with a free-kick in the 26th minute, five minutes after Ma's goal, as she curled the ball into the right bottom corner.
"I found China's goalkeeper standing near the left post, giving me a chance on the right, so I kicked the ball hard and it rolled in," she said.
Three mintues after the break, she collected a long pass from teammate and beat a defender to score her second goal of the game.
China's head coach Li Xiaopeng, who took this tournament as a chance to build up his team for the September's Olympic qualifiers, rued two defensive lapses that allowed Vidarsdottir to score.
"My players make two easy mistakes," he said. "Our goalkeeper Wang Luna made her debut for China in this match, so she lacks experience. When Vidarsdottir took the free-kick, Wang stood at the wrong postion and gave the Iceland striker chance."
"And as for the second goal we conceded, after our attack failed, my players did not withdraw in time to defend and gave Vidarsdottir the space to score," he said.
Li, who said he would resign if China fail to qualify for the London Olympics, hoped his team could gain experience and mature up through the Algarve Cup tournament.
"This match against Iceland is of top quality, and it's a good opportunity for my team to grow up," he said.
Ma Jun scored a scrambled goal to put China ahead, and Margret Vidarsdottir hit in a brace to wrap up the win for Iceland.
Vidarsdottir found the net with a free-kick in the 26th minute, five minutes after Ma's goal, as she curled the ball into the right bottom corner.
"I found China's goalkeeper standing near the left post, giving me a chance on the right, so I kicked the ball hard and it rolled in," she said.
Three mintues after the break, she collected a long pass from teammate and beat a defender to score her second goal of the game.
China's head coach Li Xiaopeng, who took this tournament as a chance to build up his team for the September's Olympic qualifiers, rued two defensive lapses that allowed Vidarsdottir to score.
"My players make two easy mistakes," he said. "Our goalkeeper Wang Luna made her debut for China in this match, so she lacks experience. When Vidarsdottir took the free-kick, Wang stood at the wrong postion and gave the Iceland striker chance."
"And as for the second goal we conceded, after our attack failed, my players did not withdraw in time to defend and gave Vidarsdottir the space to score," he said.
Li, who said he would resign if China fail to qualify for the London Olympics, hoped his team could gain experience and mature up through the Algarve Cup tournament.
"This match against Iceland is of top quality, and it's a good opportunity for my team to grow up," he said.
