Wuhan native nets double as Steel Roses edge qualification playoff thriller

Overcome with emotion, Wang Shuang sank to her knees and cried tears of joy as her Team China teammates rushed to celebrate with their savior.

After a nerve-jangling 120 minutes of soccer－and a roller-coaster last year and a half for Wuhan native Wang－the outpouring of emotion was hardly surprising.

Having netted in last week's 2-1 first-leg victory, Wang was again China's hero by bagging a double－including a sublime extra-time winner－to book the Steel Roses' ticket to this summer's Tokyo Olympics following a tense qualification playoff against South Korea.

The 4-3 aggregate victory sparked wild celebrations on the pitch and among the 13,000 ecstatic home fans at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Center.

"We never gave up, even when we were 2-0 down in the first half, and we always believed we could come back," said Wang. "We deserved the victory because we've run over 10,000 meters every day and trained together for over 100 days.

"The harder we train, the luckier we can be. We've been preparing for this for 130 days. We knew the South Korean team only trained for one month. We had to fight to the last minute."

That fighting spirit has never waned throughout the Steel Roses's pandemic-affected qualification campaign.

The squad came through a tough third-round qualifying tournament in Australia last year after all Group B matches had to be relocated from Wuhan due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the city.

The change of location cost the squad both home advantage and star player Wang, who spent months locked down in the city.

Wang, however, emerged from those tough times to lead her hometown team to the domestic league title－and now she has come up trumps for her country.

The 26-year-old was rumored to have fallen out with head coach Jia Xiuquan during a disappointing 2019 Women's World Cup campaign, however there was no questioning her dedication to China's cause on Tuesday as her sweetly struck winner and slightly fortunate opener saw off a plucky South Korean side.

In a disastrous opening 45 minutes for China, the visitor had stunned the host by taking a 2-0 lead into the halftime break.

However, a floated Wang freekick in the 68th minute deceived the Korean defense to sail into the net and force the extras, before the former Paris Saint-Germain playmaker netted with a sweetly struck angled shot in the 103rd minute to seal China's place at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Speaking before kickoff, head coach Jia had correctly predicted a tough task ahead, despite his team's 2-1 first-leg advantage.

"Theoretically speaking, the second match should be much harder. I told my players they must forget the result of the first match. To win the second match, they'll have to exert a lot more effort. We need to ensure our players stay in peak condition," said Jia, who took over Team China in 2018.

Suzhou had given Team China a hero's welcome upon its arrival over the weekend－even staging a drone show ahead of the match. The fans' excitement was indicative of just how much they crave a return of the Steel Roses' glory days, when they were runner-up at both the 1996 Olympics and the 1999 World Cup.

The rapid global development of women's soccer in recent years, especially in European nations, has seen China's powers wane somewhat. At the 2019 Women's World Cup in France, for example, Jia's team was eliminated at the last-16 stage following a 2-0 defeat to Italy.

However, Tuesday's gutsy performance and Wang's individual brilliance bodes well for Tokyo.