ALBUFEIRA, Portugal, Mar. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese women's football team "have to play very good defense" against Norway in their upcoming Algarve Cup fixture, China's head coach Sigurdur Ragnar Eyjolfsson said.
The Chinese team spent the first half of its afternoon training session working on their defense.
"We've worked a lot on our offense in the last eight, nine matches, so this would be the chance to see how we can defend against a strong team," Eyjolfsson said.
Norway's No.14 global ranking is two places above China's, but both teams lost their first round games.
"We know we are playing against a strong team, but if China plays really well, then we have a chance to win," Eyjolfsson said.
The coach expects to see "a better performance, more fighting spirit in the team, [more] enthusiasm, more passion about wanting to be in the team and wanting to perform well for China".
The Chinese women's team is focusing on long-term goals; the 2020 Olympics as well as next month's Asian Cup, he said.
Eyjolfsson called for more patience and says it takes a long time to build a team.
Wang Fei, China's international goalkeeper, who was introduced into the FC Bayern Munich Women's side in December, didn't appear in the first match against Portugal. The starting goalkeeper Lu Feifei made good saves but also made a mistake that led to a goal.
When asked about Wang's situation, Eyjolfsson said that maybe she will play in the tournament but the decision is made on the goalkeeper position before each match.
