'Steel Roses' dream of reaching full bloom

Having already realized the goal they set for Rio, China's female soccer stars are now dreaming bigger.

Dubbed the "Steel Roses" for a second-place finish at the 1996 Olympics and the 1999 World Cup, China secured a berth in the quarterfinals for the first time since the 2000 Sydney Games by battling to a 0-0 draw with Sweden on Tuesday.

"We were absent from the opening ceremony, so we want to stay longer to attend the closing ceremony," said captain Li Dongna.

"We've achieved our goal for the tournament. Our endeavor has paid off. If we defeat Germany in the quarterfinals, I will be wild with joy."

The road to Rio was not easy. Neither is the path in China.

After 650 days of hard training, the new generation of Roses, with an average age of just over 24, defeated the Netherlands 1-0 to snatch China's first victory in the Women's World Cup and reached the last eight in the tournament in Canada last year.

But the hard-earned result did not bring rapid development of the sport to women soccer players in the country.

Compared with the money-splashing pursuit of foreign talent by clubs in the Chinese Super League, the top-level China Women's Super League is still overlooked.

The national team also had to cope with the resignation of head coach Hao Wei in August last year after finishing last at the Women's East Asian Cup.

But a silver lining emerged when former French coach Bruno Bini took the reins last September.

Bini guided his home squad to fourth place at both the Women's World Cup in 2011 and the London Olympics in 2012, and is determined to restore the Roses to their former glory.

The 61-year-old is viewed as a father figure by his players.He has united the team in a system that emphasizes passing and ball control.

Bini has set the long-term goal of qualifying for the 2019 Women's World Cup in France.

With Bini at the helm, China traveled to the US and defeated the four-time Olympic champion United States in a friendly, ending the Americans' streak of 104 consecutive home victories.

Chinese fans were impressed most by the squad's unbeaten campaign in the Olympic qualifying tournament, which booked the ticket to Rio.

China defeated Vietnam 2-0 for its opening victory in the tournament, then beat Japan and South Korea before drawing against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and eventual winner Australia.

Brazilian coach Oswaldo Alvarez said: "China has become more aggressive. The team used to wait for counter attacks, but now they apply more pressure."

China opened the Rio tournament with a 3-0 loss to host Brazil on Aug 3, then beat South Africa2-0 and battled to the scoreless draw with Sweden on Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals.

Germany is up next -on Friday in Salvador.

"We've come this far. We want to win no matter how strong our opponent is," Li said. "We don't have much advantage over Germany, but anything can happen."