The China Football Association (CFA) didn’t hear anything from Marika Domanski about extending her contract until midnight on Wednesday. But when the CFA contacted her, the head coach of the women’s soccer team said she needed 10 more days to think about it.
China's coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors of Sweden (in blue), comforts her player Han Duan after their loss to Norway at the quarter final match of the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup soccer tournament in Wuhan, China Sunday Sept. 23, 2007. Norway defeated China 1-0. [Xinhua] To coach or not to coach – the well-known Sweden-born coach is hesitating whether to extend her leadership of the national team after it failed to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup last month.
The “Steel Roses”, dubbed by Chinese fans because of their peak performance in the 1990s was blown away by Norway 0-1 in the quarter-final clash to end their first World Cup on home soil.
Domanski took the helm of the Chinese national team in March this year when the team was bogged down in low ebb. Fans pinned high hopes on the Swedish coach to help China to regain its glory in 1990s, when China stormed to the finals of the 1999 World Cup and 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, both finishing as runner-ups.
The team has improved significantly under Domanski’s watch, celebrating a string of victories in several friendly games and clinched the title of the four-nation International Women's Soccer Invitational Tournament 2007 in July, boosting its 2008 Olympic chances.
The Swede avoided replying back to the CFA when her contract was up earlier this month, saying that her aide was not in good health. But she said on Wednesday she wanted to spend “the most important days” with her husband and son.
Despite not having their coach’s contract settled yet, her players gave strong support to their “mother”.
"Domanski has taught us many new things, which has helped a lot. All of us love our coach. We treat her as our mother," said midfielder Bi Yan after the World Cup quarter-final elimination.
Striker Han Duan agreed: "She made us play as a team and encouraged us to keep upbeat for the future. We are very happy and we hope she will stay."
During the group stage, China beat Denmark 3-2 with late winning goal, lost 4-0 to Athens Olympic runner-up Brazil, and won 2-0 over underdogs New Zealand to be the runners-up of Group D.
"She made us feel we are becoming a strong team again. We all like her so much. I hope she will stay and take us to the Olympics," said Wang Kun, who was blamed for losing concentration in the goal box that resulted in the winning goal for Norway.
CFA officials were reported to do everything they can to keep the Swede in order to stabilize the team before next year’s Olympics. Previous frequent change of coaches left the team in disarray as five head coaches left the team in the past two years.
油价上涨美国人不爽:奥巴马连任有危机
国际英语资讯:UN Mission in Afghanistan outraged by Taliban attack in Kabul
澳大利亚四名“超胆侠”为避买单高楼跳伞
出生性别比连降三年
银行满意度大调查农业银行垫底
Facebook新应用让你加“敌人”
关于外语学习的7个常见误解
星巴克用昆虫为饮品加色 或致哮喘患者过敏
地球最“冷”的地方:英式愚人节玩笑大盘点
谁用谁闪亮:亮色衣服搭配十招
澳女婴在加早产 医疗费达百万美元
学写代码比学外语更流行?
美俄总统私聊曝光 “转达给普京”网络走红
紧身牛仔裤竟是健康杀手?
下一站是刘翔站?伦敦奥运地铁站改由体育明星命名
《欲望都市》前传《凯莉日记》曝出新片场照
英国:青少年不给老人孕妇让座将受罚
美国女子误将中26万美元彩票送他人
上课打瞌睡有助记忆新知识
沙特或首次派女将出征奥运
匈牙利总统深陷“抄袭门”:论文被证实部分雷同
奥巴马与俄总统私聊遭曝光 麦克风未关引风波
女性穿着揭示隐藏性格
巨型天鹅袭击游人的趣图
男子锯掉左脚逃避工作
CBA北京男篮首夺总冠军 马布里来中国实现冠军梦
80岁时你会后悔的7件事:别等到老了再后悔
美议员称中国打假不力危及美国
久坐可致英年早逝?!
婚前必须想清七大问题:别让自己嫁得不明不白
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |