The former coach of the Swedish women's soccer team, Marika Domanski Lyfors, has been appointed coach to the Chinese national team, Swedish news agency TT reported on Tuesday.

Domanski Lyfors signed the reported 533,000 US dollars contract on Monday. Domanski Lyfors replaces current coach Ma Lianxing, who has stepped down due to heart trouble.

The Swede is expected to arrive in China at the beginning of April, according to the TT. She will then have five months to prepare her team for the World Cup, which kicks off in Shanghai in the autumn.

Domanski Lyfors coached the Swedish team for nine years, taking them to the final of the World Cup in the United States in 2003.

(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2007)