中国女足 向着里约前进

China's women takes on Australia in their final match at the 2016 Rio Olympic Qualifiers. With both teams having already done enough to secure their berths in the Summer Games, the pressure would be off in this Asian Zone encounter.

The PRC came into the match in second place at the tournament in Japan, two points behind leaders Australia.

Veteran Ma Xiaoxu starts for China, and opens the scoring after only 16 minutes to make it 1-0. The powerful header leaves no chance for the Australian keeper.

The Steel Roses keep pressing and almost double the tally nine minutes later. Ma, a serious threat in the air, heads just over the bar.

The Aussies push for an equalizer, and they get it five minutes from time. Emily Van Egmond drills a big strike from distance.

China are held to a 1-1 draw by the Matildas, and both tems will be making the trip to Brazil.

Australia remain on top of the Asian Zone, with the PRC netting 11 points from five matches. Japan take third place with seven points, two ahead of South Korea and the DPRK.

With their berth in Rio, China will return to the Olympic stage in August. Bruno Bini's side won 2-0 against Vietnam in their opener, and were held to a 1-1 draw by the DPRK, before beating hosts Japan 2-1. The Chinese ladies grabbed three more points after edging South Korea 1-0 to seal their passage.

In recent history, China lost in the Gold Medal Match at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics to the hosts from the USA. The Steel Roses then reached the 1999 World Cup Final, where they fell to the Americans on penalty kicks.

The team soon entered a period of struggles, as they failed to qualify for the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, but returned as hosts in 2008, falling to Japan 2-0 in the Quarter-Finals. In 2010, China missed the World Cup for the first time, but returned last year and advanced to the Last Eight.