Xie Yalong, vice president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), expressed the CFA's hope to retain Swedish Marika Domanski Lyfors as the women's team head coach in spite of her failure to steer the "Steel Rose" to the last four at the Women's World Cup.

 

Hosts China were shut out by the Norway 1-0 in the quarter-finals in Wuhan, which means Domanski failed to achieve her task of reaching the semifinals.

 

But the changes that Domanski has brought to the Chinese team have impressed most of the Chinese media, as well as the fans. According to media polls and local reports, the majority of fans hope the Swede will remain as head coach.

 

"The contract between the CFA and Domanski will last till the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Now we are summarizing the team's World Cup performance and both sides have expressed strong will and honesty to continue our cooperation in the next stage." said Xie.

 

"But we still need to talk about some details of the contract and that needs a bilateral agreement. Domanski also has the right to choose (whether to continue)."

 

The Chinese players also hope Domanski will stay.

 

"She is a very good coach. She brings us a lot of confidence and smiles. I hope that she can stay," said midfielder Bi Yan.

 

China made a nice start at the showpiece tournament, beating European new force Denmark 3-2 with three thrilling long-range goals.

 

The hosts were frustrated by the skillful Brazil 4-0, but rallied and finally made it through to the knock-out stage after a 2-0 win over New Zealand.

 

In the game against Norway, China created more chances and showed their best performance of the four games.

 

Although the result failed to meet expectation, the fans are satisfied with Domanski's ability. When she took over the team five months ago, the situation was rather awkward and shabby.

 

China experienced a disastrous Algarve Cup without a head coach following the disputes inside the team at the Guangzhou "Four Nations Tournament" earlier this year. The previous boss stepped down after an alleged heart attack.

 

Domanski's arrival was in time.

 

The Chinese media is now expecting the Swede to deliver a medal at the 2008 Olympic Games.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2007)