For China's women's soccer team, the scenario seemed ideal: Play the United States at home in front of wildly supportive crowds and take revenge for a freakish loss in the World Cup final four years ago.

It didn't work out that way.

Disaster struck in the form of the deadly outbreak of SARS. Worried about risks to players and fans, FIFA, world soccer's governing body, decided in May to move the tournament from China to the United States, where it begins on September 21.

Not only have the Chinese women lost the home-field advantage, it has been handed to their archrivals. They will now return to the country where they lost the 1999 finals by penalty kicks. That's tough to swallow, especially since the top-ranked Americans have won 24 straight games at home.

"This sudden change (caused) some difficulties for the team ... we arranged our training plans and competition schedule as if we would play at home," coach Ma Liangxing said in an interview with China Radio International.

"But since the World Cup has been relocated," Ma said, "we have to adjust our training plans."

Adjust they have. Players rode out the SARS outbreak in isolation at their training camp and started undergoing rigorous conditioning work in August. Media reports said training included running the 400-metre dash up to 20 times each morning.

The results have been positive - although their recent competitors haven't offered much challenge.

After the tournament was moved to the United States, stronger European teams cancelled their warm-up games against China to play the United States instead.

On Sunday, the Chinese women thrashed a young South African team 13-0 in the northeastern city of Dalian in a final practice run for the tournament. Han Duan scored a hat trick and Sun Wen, Pu Wei and Zhang Ouying all scored twice in the goalfest.

Though encouraged by the win, Ma said China still had room to improve - "especially in the midfield and the back."

China also beat Australia twice in August matches. The wins bode well for their performance in group play, where they will face the Matildas along with formidable Ghana and lowly Russia.

But it's the Americans who matter most to China. During their last meeting in January - at the Four Nations Tournament in Shanghai - China prevailed 2-0 but ended up losing the tournament anyway after tying Norway and Germany.

China retained its automatic qualification for the tournament even after the change of venue and will host the tournament in 2007. Ranked fourth in the world by FIFA, they have one of the best regarded line-ups of young players and steely veterans versed in a classy, confident style of play.

The team is led by Sun Wen, 30, who left the Women's United Soccer Association's Atlanta Beat in January to focus on Cup preparations. Sun, one of the world's top scorers and a superstar in China, shared FIFA's player of the year award in 2000. She was also the linchpin of her team's run to the 1999 finals.

Sun, who was out with an injury during much of her last season with the Beat, has said she will retire after the tournament. For China's women, it's the end of an era.

"Sure, it's hard to compare the Chinese women's team overall with that of 1999. But I don't think us taking aim at the championship is at all unrealistic. We're still a strong, world-class team," Sun told All Sports magazine.

Backing her up are several players with experience in the WUSA, including Fan Yunjie, formerly of the San Diego Spirit, and Atlanta's Wang Liping.

China has one unproven element: The team's younger players. Talented and fresh, they are also inexperienced in major tournaments.

"An outstanding performance by the women's team at this World Cup depends on whether these young players can hold up to the massive pressure," the Beijing Morning Post said in a September 9 editorial.

China's women haven't drawn the attention of the men's team, perennial underperformers who tumbled from the first round of the World Cup finals in South Korea last year without scoring a goal.

Fans though will tune in to the women's tournament because of the Chinese team's sheer dedication.

"People will still be watching because women's soccer is so much more entertaining than the men's," said Zhang Hu, a fan in Beijing. "The men - they're lazy. Carrying all those bags of money slows them down."

Agencies via Xinhua

(China Daily 09/11/2003 page8)