China Football Association (CFA) continues to keep alive the
slim hope that women's soccer coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors will
change her mind and stay with the team, even though CFA's reported
deadline to do so has passed.
Officials had said CFA would no longer tolerate Domanski's
postponement in signing the contract, indicating they would seek
out other candidates if the Swedish coach failed to make a final
decision by midnight yesterday.
But they seem to have backed off a bit, confirming to Sina.com
it is not yet time to rush to conclusions.
"Because there is still something that needs to be settled, the
contract extension will be postponed again," said CFA's
vice-president Yang Yiming.
Since the women's team will resume training on October 25,
Sina.com reported, CFA will make its final decision closer to that
date.
But another chief official denied that CFA had ever set a
deadline for Domanski.
"CFA and Domanski did not have any deal about a deadline," said
Xie Yalong, also CFA Vice-President. "I know media are anxious to
see the result, and so am I. But it's not coming out yet.
"What we should do now is wait and hope she comes back."
Domanski has said that due to an illness of one of her
assistants, she will not make her final decision until after she
learns of the diagnosis. She was not available for further comment
on Wednesday.
Domanski graciously accepted responsibility for China's early
exit from the FIFA Women's World Cup last month. The vocal support
from both players and chief officials following China's
quarterfinal loss strongly suggested that the dignified mentor
would be retained and would steer the team into the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Since then, rumors surfaced that Domanski asked to take full
control of the team before the Olympics, which displeased some
chief officials.
Domanski is credited with getting China back in form after she
took over in late March, leading the team to a string of
victories.
Since the Chinese women's team grabbed silver at the 1999 World
Cup - the best-ever finish for China - women's soccer in China has
been in a slump, falling out of the form shown by the "Steel
Roses", a team led by star striker Sun Wen and playmaker Liu
Anling.
After many stars from that silver-medal squad retired, China's
transition to the next generation has stuttered due to a dearth of
talent and frequent coaching shuffles.
Now with less than 300 days to go before the Beijing Olympics,
the women's soccer team is likely to face another round of coach
shuffling, forcing it to spend still more time getting used to a
new coach.
Sources say German coach Krautzun Eckhard would be an ideal
replacement because of his experience as head coach of China's
youth team and as a technical advisor for the women's team. Local
coaches such as Ma Liangxing and Wang Haiming are also said to be
among possible candidates to succeed the Swede.
The latest speculation is linked to Brazil's high-profile
women's coach, Jorge Barcellos, who led the team to a best-ever
silver at last month's World Cup.
The Soccer newspaper reported Barcellos has expressed
interest in taking over China's women's team.
(China Daily October 19, 2007)