China held 2-2 by Sweden in World Cup warmup

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, September 16, 2003

China held 2-2 by Sweden in World Cup warmup

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China Held 2-2 by Sweden in World Cup Warmup

China's buildup to the Women's World Cup suffered a heavy blow as they narrowly escaped a defeat to unfancied Sweden, salvaging a 2-2 draw through a last-ditch GaoHongxia penalty in Washington Monday.

China, who were beaten in an epic finale by the United States four years ago, obviously lacked creativity and cohesion in the once-dominant midfield who was commanded by Liu Ailing.

It was undoubtedly that no young players could fill Liu's absence after the 35-year-old retired early this year.

Liu Ying, who has been in the central midfield with Ailing for long, appeared in need of time to have understanding with Pan Lina,who stayed most of her time on bench during Ailing's playing career.

Ma Liangxing's side then had to rely on veterans Zhao Lihong and Sun Wen to launch attacks.

Zhao, 31, one of world's best left wingers, showed that her genius remained although her physical ability had waned while the 30-year-old Sun, the Golden Boot Award winner in the last World Cup, still displayed some magic touches.

But Sweden, who met China for the first time since their 2-1 defeat in the last World Cup, caused the seven-time Asian champions a lot of trouble through two pacy strikers of Hanna Ljungberg and Victoria Svensson.

The north European side surprisingly went ahead after 12 minutes, when Ljungber rose well to head a teammate freekick past China 'keeper Zhao Yan.

Sweden continued to push forward, but their midfielders hit toomany inaccurate long balls and were well blocked by China's back four, who were made up of Wang Liping, Fan Yunjie, Li Jie and a versatile Bai Jie.

China settled after 20 minutes and their best chance came when Zhao Lihong weaved her way into Sweden's area but her shot was caught by goalkeeper Caroline Johsson.

After 30 minutes, China finally leveled the score. Sun's long pass in China's own half found Zhao Lihong on the left flank, who beat the Swedish keeper easily.

Sun's freekick on the right then went well wide of the near post and striker Han Duan's close-range shot were blocked by the brave Johsson.

Sweden regained their lead only three minutes after the restart,when Svensson's drive from close range left Chinese goalie to haveno chance.

After bringing off most of the starters, China seemed more and more likely to head for their first defeat in their warmups after losing to Nigeria 3-2 earlier last month.

But second half substitution Ren Liping earned China a penalty kick three minutes after being felled in the box. Another second-half replacement Gao Hongxia stepped in and shot past a full-strength Johsson.

China, who were drawn with Ghana, Australia and Russia in GroupD, will play their opener in Los Angeles on Sunday, while Sweden, in the Group of Death with DPR Korea, the United States and Nigeria, increased chances that they may progress from the group.

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