Players of Team China attend a training session for the upcoming Olympic women's football qualifying Group B matches in Sydney, Australia, Feb. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
China shrug off virus quarantine to trounce Thailand 6-1 at women's soccer Olympic qualifier in Australia.
SYDNEY, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese women's football team survived a "very difficult" virus quarantine to beat Thailand 6-1 at an Asian 2020 Olympic qualifier on Friday.
The Chinese team, cleared from quarantine on Wednesday, scored four times from as many attempts on goal before break.
Veteran striker Li Ying, who scored the sole goal for China at last year's World Cup in France, drew first blood in the fifth minute when she dodged an opposing defender before firing the ball past Thailand goalkeeper Tiffany Sornpao.
Jia Xiuquan (C, rear), head coach of Team China, speaks during a training session for the upcoming Olympic women's football qualifying Group B matches in Sydney, Australia, Feb. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
Zhang Xin doubled China's lead five minutes later as she curled the ball in from the left side of the area.
Wang Shanshan, who was recalled to the Chinese team before they flew to Australia, headed in their third goal in the 40th minute when a pass from Li found her unmarked.
Tang Jiali scored in the 43rd and 51st minute to expand China's lead to 5-0, before Li headed in her second of the match at the 64th minute mark.
Thailand, who lost to Chinese Taipei 1-0 at their first qualifying match, pulled back one consolation goal through Silawan Intamee in the 80th minute.
Sun Wen, vice president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), inspects a training session for the upcoming Olympic women's football qualifying Group B matches in Sydney, Australia, Feb. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
The Chinese side, on their arrival in Brisbane, Australia on January 29, were put in quarantine until February 5 when a letter from the local health authority cleared them, leaving them only one day to fly to Sydney and prepare for the Thailand tie.
"This has been a very difficult time for your team and their support staff," the letter said.
The quarantined Chinese team could not hold any field training as planned as their activities were confined to some areas of their hotel.
The matches of the Olympic women's football qualifying Group B, which features China, Australia, Chinese Taipei and Thailand, have been rescheduled twice due to the quarantine of the Chinese team.
Players of Team China attend a training session for the upcoming Olympic women's football qualifying Group B matches in Sydney, Australia, Feb. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
Those matches were originally set to take place in Wuhan, China from February 3 to 9. Due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus in the city, the fixtures were initially moved to China's eastern city of Nanjing, before being moved again to Sydney, Australia.
Four Chinese players, including former Paris Saint-Germain striker Wang Shuang, were stranded back in China amid novel coronavirus control concerns. ■
