Chinese have high hopes as women's soccer begins Wednesday

TIANJIN, China -- Time was, a decade ago, when the United States, Norway and China dominated women's soccer without challenge.

The Americans and Norwegians have remained elite, joined by Germany, Brazil and Sweden. With an Olympic home-field advantage, China is looking for a revival.

China's Han Duan has 100 goals in 160 international matches. (US Presswire)

"The crowd is going to be huge for the Chinese," Canadian forward Christine Sinclair said. "With 50,000 people cheering for them, for the opponent it can be intimidating walking into that environment. But then again, the Chinese (fans) are tame, compared to some of the places we play, like Mexico."

The United States returns to the Olympics as the defending champion. The Germans arrive as the reigning women's World Cup champs. Norway was the runner-up at the European championship three years ago and finished fourth at the 2007 World Cup.

But for China, the slide has been backward.

Since losing to the United States on penalties at the 1999 women's World Cup in Pasadena, Calif., it hasn't advanced past the quarterfinals at a World Cup or Olympics -- sinking to a low of ninth in Athens four years ago. It won the 2006 Asian Championship but finished second behind North Korea earlier this year.

"In the past, we were a strong team. We had a lot of good results," said Shang Ruihua, China's fourth coach in a year-and-a-half, and who led the Chinese to their fifth-place finish at the 1991 World Cup.

"But for various reasons our performances have been up and down."

Now, the Olympics provide a platform to launch a rebirth.

"It's hard to say about spirit," Shang said. "But the support will push us to a better level."

Standing in China's way is its old nemesis, the Americans. But Germany, Brazil -- second to the Germans at last year's World Cup -- the Norwegians, the Swedes and even neighbor North Korea also pose hurdles.

The first hurdle comes Wednesday, when China opens against Sweden in Tianjin. Japan plays New Zealand and Norway faces the Americans in Group G; Germany plays Brazil and North Korea faces Nigeria in Group F; and Argentina takes on Canada in the match immediately before China-Sweden.

The Americans and Swedes must overcome major injury losses. The United States had to replace leading scorer Abby Wambach when she broke a leg in a warmup match last month, and Sweden announced Monday that it will be without forward Hanna Ljungberg because of a right hamstring injury.

China, too, has health issues but still has Han Duan and her 100 goals in 160 matches, and defender and captain Li Jie and her 196 caps.

Trying to recover from the loss of players such as Sun Wen, who shared the FIFA Woman's Player of the Century with American Michelle Akers, has not been easy, especially with the rapid development of the women's game in the past decade.

"If you watched the '99 final, you could say they were unlucky not to win that game," Sinclair said. "I don't believe they're the same team. But I don't know if they're that much worse, or if the rest of the world has caught up."