Marika Domanski-Lyfors (right), the newly-appointed head coach of China's women's soccer national team, exchanges words with her assistant during a training session last week in Wuhan.

Marika Domanski-Lyfors is yet to prove how much she will improve China's women's soccer team technically and physically, but she has taken the first step to improving them mentally.

Marika Domanski-Lyfors (right), the newly-appointed head coach of China's women's soccer national team, exchanges words with her assistant during a training session last week in Wuhan.[China Daily]

"Yes, my goal is to take the team to the last four," said Domanski-Lyfors, who guided Sweden to a second place finish at USA 2003. "I know that we have a lot of hard work to do in preparation for the tournament, but I believe we can do our utmost to achieve our aim."

"Although we were drawn in a very tough group, I sill have confidence of achieving the goal."

China are seeds in Group D of September's 2007 Women's World Cup, and they must get past Brazil, Denmark and New Zealand to keep expectant home fans happy.

Domanski-Lyfors' appointment came in the wake of China's disappointing Algarve Cup campaign, where the "Steel Roses" suffered four successive defeats including a 4-1 rout by Iceland. While the morale in the Chinese camp has possibly reached its lowest point for several years, there is still a lot of pressure on the hosts to perform well at this year's event.

But Domanski-Lyfors has showed a confident attitude and believes China has a great chance at the World Cup.

"I watched their second-half against Sweden during the Algarve Cup. Although they lost 1-0, the players had some really good performances.

"And they also performed very well in the match against the World XI. It will give the team more confidence.

"I think China has very good players with skills. They are capable of beating any team in the world as long as they play their game. But what we need right now is confidence."

Despite the fact that she has only been given six months before the World Cup kicks off, Domanski-Lyfors said that she has no doubts about the team's potential for success.

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