Former France head coach Elisabeth Loisel has emerged as the
favorite to take the helm of the Chinese women's football national
team, which were left rudderless after Marika Domanski-Lyfors
declined to come back to China and extend her contract.
Though Domanski-Lyfors failed to meet her own pre-tournament
target of leading the hosts into the top four of the FIFA Women's
World Cup, she won universal approval with the local press and
fans. The Chinese Football Association (CFA) had expressed their
wish to keep everything stay put and the Swede could remain with
the Chinese side in preparation for next year's Olympic Games.
But Domanski-Lyfors thought otherwise and chose to stay with her
family.
"I am happy in China and like the job, but my family comes
first," Domanski-Lyfors was quoted as telling Swedish media.
With the Olympics less than 300 days away, the Chinese football
governing body has to set off a frantic hunt for a new coach for
the "Steel Roses". They have fixed their target on three candidates
with Loisel tipped as the best-equipped one.
"We have to fast-track our selection process as there is not so
much time left. We hope the new coach would be in position by the
end of this month," said a CFA insider.
Loisel's contenders are April Heinrich, former head coach of the
United States, and the incumbent Brazil manager Jorge Barcellos,
and with a similar background in European football to
Domanski-Lyfors, the former France coach is reckoned as the ideal
successor to ensure a troubleless transition ahead of the Women's
Olympic Football Tournament.
"We have sounded some revered experts on Domanski-Lyfors
replacement, and most of them also prefer Loisel," said the CFA
source.
"If we chose her, the upside for her is that she shares the
rather similar style with Domanski-Lyfors and that can ensure she
could fit into the team soon, and the downside is she has no
experience of managing a team in any major tournaments like World
Cup and Olympic Games," he said.
The quit of Domanski-Lyfors left the Chinese team agitated and
unsettled.
"She is an unpretentious and jovial character, and often treated
us as her daughters," said midfielder Bi Yan.
"We sincerely hope she could continue to coach us as she has
raised the team's overall strength up a notch. A new coach is now
coming and we have to cotton on to each other, and sometimes it is
very painful.
"We hope the new coach could be very much like Marika," she
said.
The CFA has entered into talks with Loisel, and the French lady
didn't conceal her excitement at the prospect of taking charge of
the talented but unpredictable Chinese.
"I am very interested in the job and it will come as an
extraordinary challenge in my coaching career," she told local
press this week. "But negotiations are ongoing and nothing can be
taken for granted for the time being."
(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2007)