Three consecutive wins to top the group! Chinese women's football: Defeating tough opponent North Korea, all within the plan.

Report by journalist Wang Wei On the rainy night of March 9 in Sydney, the Chinese women's football team reversed a 2-1 victory against the formidable North Korean women's football team in the final round of Group B of the Women's Asian Cup group stage. With three wins in the group stage, they advanced to the quarter-finals as the top team.

This also marks the Chinese women's football team's first victory over North Korea in the Asian Cup after 20 years. Overcoming this tough challenge, the Chinese women's team, which was not highly favored by outsiders before the match, took a solid step on their path to defending the title. Head coach Milicic, who also faced considerable pressure, stated after the match that to secure this crucial victory, he and the coaching staff repeatedly rehearsed tactical arrangements for the entire group stage during the training phase, and the match process closely aligned with pre-match expectations.

In the quarter-finals scheduled for this Saturday, the Chinese women's football team will face the second-place team from Group C. The winner of this match will directly qualify for the 2027 Women's World Cup.

The Chinese women's football team defeated Bangladesh 2-0 and Uzbekistan 3-0 in the first two rounds of Group B. North Korea, in the same group, defeated Uzbekistan 3-0 and Bangladesh 5-0. Before the final round, both North Korea and China had already secured advancement. With a three-goal deficit in net goals, the Chinese women's team needed to win to secure the top spot in Group B and avoid facing Group A's top team, host Australia, in the knockout stage.

The Chinese women's football team rotated two sets of lineups in the first two matches. Facing the third and most crucial match, China again rotated the starting lineup. Compared to the second-round match against Uzbekistan, six players who rested in the previous round—Wu Haiyan, Zhang Chengxue, Wang Aifang, Zhang Rui, Wang Shuang, and Wu Rigumu—returned to the starting lineup. Chen Chen, Chen Qiaozhu, Yao Wei, Zhang Linyan, and Shao Ziqin continued as starters.

From the opening minute, the match was labeled a "hard battle." In the 3rd minute, Shao Ziqin was stamped on the knee during a scramble, but the referee, after reviewing the video, showed leniency and only issued a yellow card to the offending player Kim Sung-kyung. Neither side created significant opportunities in the first 30 minutes.

In the 32nd minute, North Korea scored first. China's left defensive flank was breached, Han Jinhong delivered a cross, and Kim Kyung-eng finished to score. The outside world worried about China's unfavorable situation for less than two minutes before the women's team quickly responded. In the 34th minute, Wang Shuang delivered a corner kick. Shao Ziqin received a teammate's headed pass in the penalty area and laid it back to the edge of the box. Left defender Chen Qiaozhu met the ball with a fierce low drive to equalize.

In the 4th minute of first-half stoppage time, Yao Wei of China delivered a free kick from the left side of the field. Zhang Chengxue received the ball on the right and crossed, allowing Wang Shuang to finish into an empty net. Although the assistant referee initially ruled Zhang Chengxue offside, VAR review confirmed the goal was valid, giving China a 2-1 lead. Afterwards, North Korea, dissatisfied with the decision, collectively lingered at the sideline to pressure the referees, causing a match interruption. Referee Le Thi Ly then directly announced the end of the first half.

In the second half, North Korea launched a counterattack to equalize. China resisted with tenacious defense and determination. In the 80th minute, North Korea scored a goal, but it was clearly offside; after VAR intervention, the goal was ruled invalid. Ultimately, China defeated North Korea 2-1, advancing to the quarter-finals with three consecutive group-stage wins.

This victory undoubtedly provided the best pressure release for Milicic, who faced considerable skepticism before this campaign. "This should be one of the best matches played by the Chinese women's football team in recent years!" Post-match external evaluations positively acknowledged China's performance.

In the post-match press conference, he discussed his considerations for three different lineups across three matches: "Reviewing the group stage, China employed a lineup rotation strategy, while North Korea fielded the same starting eleven for three consecutive matches. This cannot be absolutely judged as right or wrong. Through analysis and study of opponents, I found North Korea possesses ample stamina, physical strength, and smooth coordination. Therefore, if China played with a relatively fixed lineup, the third group match would have been very difficult. The coaching staff believed that selecting corresponding lineups based on different opponent characteristics was the most likely way for China to defeat opponents in crucial matches."

"Football is like this; tactical arrangements sometimes work, sometimes don't, but fortunately tonight it succeeded for us," Milicic said.

Looking at historical encounters, China's last victory over North Korea was at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. Their last victory over North Korea in the Women's Asian Cup dates back to 2006. That means this match marks China's first victory over North Korea in the Asian Cup after 20 years.

Notably, both of China's goals in this match came from set pieces. Milicic stated post-match that this related to pre-match targeted training and deployment. "Our coaching staff anticipated that in this fiercely contested match, positional attacks would be difficult to create many scoring opportunities, so we conducted extensive video analysis on set pieces, including offense and defense. China has players with excellent passing technique who can leverage advantages in offensive set pieces."

Regarding the success of set pieces, Wang Shuang also stated: "I think this set piece success should be credited to the efforts of our entire coaching team. During the 45-day concentrated preparation in Shenzhen, we continuously refined drills for attacking and defending set pieces like free kicks, conducting two to three sessions per week. So today's match reflected our execution of the head coach's tactical arrangements and training content, effectively showcasing what we practiced."

In this match, China's first-half possession rate exceeded North Korea's, and shot attempts were one more than North Korea's. Even though North Korea launched a fierce counterattack in the second half, China did not fall behind in determination and spirit, even overpowering North Korea in momentum.

Post-match, Wang Shuang, who scored the reversing goal for the team, believed that the Chinese women's football team displayed extremely strong mental attributes in this match, overcoming the opponent on a spiritual level. She hoped that defeating the longtime rival North Korea would give young players more confidence.

"I think everyone's mental attributes in this match were 100%," Wang Shuang said. Facing the longtime rival North Korea, everyone withstanded pressure. "From the 1st minute to the 90th minute, we fought for every ball, contested every ball, with a stronger desire to win than them." Wang Shuang said that over the past two years, due to injuries, her personal form fluctuated greatly. This goal also proved herself again, giving her great confidence. "After tonight, tomorrow is a new beginning. We must strive toward the next stage goal. Gain confidence from this match, then showcase the characteristics of our Chinese team in subsequent matches."

"This is a joyful night, but we must understand this is only the group stage. We can enjoy this moment tonight, tomorrow we will conduct physical recovery and match review, then focus on preparing for the next match," Milicic said. "This is just a beginning. We must respect every opponent, ensure we focus on ourselves, and continue working hard. I believe if our team maintains this momentum and stays mentally calm, we have a good chance to deliver excellent performances again."

The Chinese women's football team will face the second-place team from Group C in the quarter-finals. The quarter-final opponent is most likely the Chinese Taipei women's football team. If China wins this quarter-final, they will advance to the semi-finals, thereby directly securing a ticket to the 2027 World Cup main tournament.