China beats FIFA Stars 3-2 on late goal

Ji Ting scored in the 90th minute Saturday to lift China to a 3-2 victory over the FIFA Women's World Stars.

Ji took a loose ball and slotted¹ a shot from 12 meters (yards) behind goalkeeper Rachel Brown. The goal came with just 23 seconds remaining before the brief injury-time period.

Ji Ting of China celebrates after scoring the late goal to lift China to a 3-2 victory over the FIFA Women's World Stars in Wuhan,capital of central China's Hubei Province April 21,2007.[Xinhua]

The match between the women's all-star team and China was played the day before the draw in Wuhan for the September 10-30 women's World Cup. The World Cup will be played at five venues² in China.

"It was a real exhibition, and a sign of things to come for the World Cup," said England coach Hope Powell, who ran the team with Tina Theune-Meyer, the former coach of Germany.

Cheryl Salisbury had scored a goal late in the first half to level the match at 2-2. Conny Pohlers also scored for the Stars with China's other goals from Liu Sa and Han Duan.

Pohlers gave the Stars a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute. The Germany striker scored on a header off a long cross from Mexico defender³ Monica Gonzalez.

China rallied⁴ for a 2-1 lead.

Liu scored on a header in the 14th off a corner. Han also capitalized on a corner, which was deflected⁵ away by the defense⁶. But Xie Caixia got the loose ball, and bounced⁷ a shot toward⁸ the goal with Han heading it home in the 27th.

Salisbury leveled the match in the 42nd on a header off a free kick from Daniela Alves Lima.

The FIFA Stars had had their best chance to go ahead in the second half when Kristine Lilly was stopped in the 60th by China goalkeeper Zhang Yanru on a point-blank shot.

China assistant Wang Haiming led China, his final game before he hands the team over to coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors of Sweden.

"The victory gives us a lot of confidence, and hope to our fans," Wang said.

China, once a power in women's soccer, has just gone through a difficult stretch. The team lost all four games last month in the Algarve Cup, which included a humiliating 4-1 loss to Iceland.

In Sunday's draw, the No. 1-ranked United States, defending champion Germany, Norway and host China will be the seeded teams in the four groups.

The draw will determine in which groups the other 12 teams will play.

In addition to the seeded teams, Sweden and Brazil are also considered threats to win. A half-dozen other teams could also pose problems: France, England, Japan, North Korea, Denmark, Australia and Nigeria