Quarantined Steel Roses refuse to wilt

Women's team keeping spirits up as virus hits Olympic qualification bid

China's national women's team is determined not to let the coronavirus derail its Olympic qualification campaign despite being holed up in an Australian hotel and being without star player Wang Shuang ahead of its opening match on Friday.

The 'Steel Roses' had originally been scheduled to begin the four-team mini-tournament against Thailand in Wuhan, where the outbreak has hit the hardest, on Feb 3.

However, with virus cases escalating, all three of China's Group B matches were moved from crisis-hit Hubei province to Australia.

As a precaution, the Chinese players will remain quarantined at their Brisbane hotel until Feb 5, just two days before their rescheduled opener against Thailand. The Steel Roses will then face Chinese Taipei on Feb 10 and Australia two days later. The top two finishers in the group will advance to March's playoffs.

The Chinese Football Association has stressed that none of the squad tested positive for novel coronavirus, with players doing their best to keep active by performing basic drills and stretches in their rooms and hotel corridors.

CFA vice-president Sun Wen told Xinhua that Team China will be ready to "overcome all difficulties".

"The women's soccer team has a great tradition, and the squad always fights as hard as it can in any tough situation," said Sun.

"The players still have a positive mentality. I believe they can overcome all difficulties. They are also in great physical condition. Although they can't have proper training sessions, the coaches are making sure the players are watching match footage of their opponents to analyze tactics."

Regulations preventing residents of Wuhan from traveling have shorn the squad of four players, including star playmaker Wang, formerly of French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain and now of Wuhan Chedu Jiangda.

"The entire Chinese national women's team passed the coronavirus test, and all the players are healthy," read a CFA statement upon the squad's arrival in Australia." However, three Wuhan native players - Wang Shuang, Yao Wei and Lyu Yueyun - and Zhejiang native Li Mengwen will not compete in Australia due to the epidemic prevention regulation.

"The four players have been strictly following the country's epidemic prevention requirements and are quarantined at their homes. They are checking their body temperatures on a daily basis and they are all in normal condition."

The Steel Roses' quarantine and Wang's absence became hot topics on social media, with related news viewed over 40 million times on Weibo in just one day. Many fans and pundits have expressed their concern for the team's current condition.

"In less than a week, Team China will try to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics again, but there is some bad news," said Chinese sports commentator Han Qiaosheng, who has around 15 million followers on Weibo.

"Because of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, four players, including Wang Shuang, will not leave Wuhan for the qualifiers, which will inevitably damage the overall strength of the team."

CFA vice-president Sun also recognized the difficulties.

"For all the big tournaments, the coaches have detailed training plans for different stages. The intensity of training and the players' mentality have all changed," said Sun.

"And the team has been traveling for all this time, so tiredness is also a problem to solve. But now the coaches and the players remain positive. No matter what, all of them will try their best to prepare and stay in good physical condition."

As well as receiving support from the Asian Football Confederation and local soccer associations, the squad has been receiving messages of encouragement from the quartet of players who have had to stay at home.

Star player Wang has proven to be a rock for her own community - donating 600,000 yuan ($86,500), which is roughly her entire year's salary, to the crisis in Wuhan.

"My hometown is facing difficulties, and I want to make some contribution," said Wang. "It's my hometown that nurtured me and all my achievements started from here. Now it's time to repay. It feels like I've played soccer for over a decade and I finally can do something to give back. It's all been worthwhile."