CANBERRA, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's women's football team, the Steel Roses, have been set a challenging task at the 2019 Women's World Cup, drawing two European powerhouses in the group stage of the tournament, Germany (ranked No. 2) and Spain (No. 12), as well as the 48th-ranked South Africa.
China are currently ranked at 15th in the world heading into next year's tournament in France, but will need to overcome significant challenges from their European rivals to progress to the knockout stages of the tournament.
Spain, despite being ranked 12th, didn't drop a point throughout qualifying for France and were the second team behind the hosts to secure a berth at the tournament, while the Germans have never missed out on advancing to the knockout stages of a World Cup, and have been champions twice (in 2003 and 2007).
Speaking after the World Cup draw in Paris, Germany's coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, said that with China and particularly Spain, Germany had been drawn in a "demanding group".
Voss-Tecklenburg, who only took over as coach of Germany's women's national team at the end of last month, pointed to their second group-stage contest against Spain as one that would "certainly be challenging".
Germany are to open their campaign on June 8 in Rennes against China, who Voss-Tecklenburg said could pose a problem simply because "we never know much about them."
But under new head coach Jia Xiuquan, the Steel Roses have put together an impressive lead-up campaign, finishing third in the AFC Women's Asian Cup in April 2018, while a number of key players are in hitting form at the right time.
Striker Li Ying, who grew up playing with boys due to a lack of a girls team in her area, scored seven goals in five qualifying matches for the World Cup, while star midfielder Wang Shuang, who was named AFC women's player of the year last month, has been plying her trade in Europe at French powerhouse Paris Saint Germain.
"It will not be an easy game against every team. After all, it's the World Cup. Players and coaches will pay great attention to it, so there is much possibility ahead," Wang Shuang told Xinhua after the draw.
"I think we just need to focus on ourselves and move on step by step, without thinking too much about other factors," she added. "Train hard and prepare well for the World Cup, that's quite simple."
China have met Germany on 30 occasions, with the Germans having won 16 matches to China's eight. There have been six draws. They last met at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, where Germany won 1-0.
The 2019 tournament will be the eighth FIFA Women's World Cup staged, and the seventh in which China have featured. In all their previous campaigns, the Steel Roses have made it out of the group stage and through to the knockout rounds.
The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup begins in France on June 7, 2019 and concludes on July 7.
China's schedule:
Germany vs China - Roazhon Park, June 8 (21.00 local)
South Africa vs China - Parc des Princes, June 13 (21.00 local)
China vs Spain - Stade Oceane, June 17 (18.00 local)
