2006 Asian Women's Football Championship

2006 Asian Women's Football Championship
AFC Women's Asian Cup 2006
Number of nations	9  (from 25 applicants)
Asian champion	China (8th title)
venue	Australia
Opening game	July 16, 2006
Endgame	July 30, 2006
Games	20th
Gates	77  (⌀: 3.85 per game)
spectator	28,850  (⌀: 1,443 per game)
Top scorer	Yuki Nagasato Jung Jung-suk (7 goals each)
Best player	Ma Xiaoxu

The 15th Asian Women's Soccer Championship was a women's soccer tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation and was held in Australia from July 16-30, 2006 . All games took place in Adelaide . China won for the eighth time , while hosts Australia made it to the final straight away and lost on penalties.

The tournament was originally supposed to take place in Japan . Since Australia switched from the Oceanic to the Asian Association on January 1, 2006, the Asian Association wanted to give the Australians a chance to qualify for the 2007 Women's World Cup.

There was a scandal in the semi-final match between North Korea and China . After the North Korean equalizer was not given, from an alleged offside position, the North Korean goalkeeper Hye Yong-Hue attacked the referee Anna de Toni from Italy. Previously, two of the Chinese hand games had been overlooked. At the end of the game, De Toni was kicked by the sinner and the referees were pelted with bottles by angry North Korean players after the game. Hye and two other players were then banned from FIFA for a long time.

In the final, 5,168 spectators at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide saw an exciting game. Australia went into halftime with a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Caitlin Munoz and Joanne Peters. In the second half the “steel roses” from China fought their way back up. Han Duan and Ma Xiaoxu equalized. There were no more hits in extra time, so the decision had to be made on penalties. Due to misses by Joanne Peters and Collette McCallum, China finally won 4: 2.

Despite the reduction in the field of participants, there are still big differences in performance. Jung Jung-suk (South Korea) scored six times in the game against Thailand alone.

mode

The nine qualified teams were divided into a group of four and one group of five. Within the preliminary round groups, each team plays each other once. The two teams with the highest points reach the semi-finals. The semi-final winners reach the final, the semi-final losers play for third place.

The two finalists will qualify for the 2007 Women's World Cup, while the third will play against the third in the 2006 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup for one more place. Should World Cup hosts China take one of the top three places, qualification will be shifted one place back.

Attendees

The following women's national teams have qualified for the final tournament:

Australia (host)	People's Republic of China	Japan
Myanmar	North Korea (defending champion)	South Korea
Chinese Taipei	Thailand	Vietnam

→ Main article : “Asian Zone / AFC” in the 2007 Women's World Cup / Qualification article

Preliminary round

Group A

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Japan	3	3	0	0	017: 100	+16	09
2.	China	3	2	0	1	004: 100	+3	06th
3.	Vietnam	3	1	0	2	001: 700	−6	03
4th	Chinese Taipei	3	0	0	3	001:140	−13	00

July 19, 2006 in Adelaide
China	-	Chinese Taipei	2: 0 (1: 0)
July 19, 2006 in Adelaide
Japan	-	Vietnam	5: 0 (1: 0)
July 21, 2006 in Adelaide
Japan	-	Chinese Taipei	11: 1 (4: 1)
July 21, 2006 in Adelaide
Vietnam	-	China	0: 2 (0: 1)
July 23, 2006 in Adelaide
China	-	Japan	0: 1 (0: 1)
July 23, 2006 in Adelaide
Chinese Taipei	-	Vietnam	0: 1 (0: 0)

Group B

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	North Korea	4th	3	1	0	013: 000	+13	10
2.	Australia	4th	3	1	0	011: 000	+11	10
3.	South Korea	4th	2	0	2	014: 600	+8	06th
4th	Thailand	4th	1	0	3	002:260	−24	03
5.	Myanmar	4th	0	0	4th	002:100	−8	00

July 16, 2006 in Adelaide
Myanmar	-	Thailand	1: 2 (0: 1)
July 16, 2006 in Adelaide
Australia	-	South Korea	4: 0 (1: 0)
July 18, 2006 in Adelaide
Thailand	-	North Korea	0: 9 (0: 5)
July 18, 2006 in Adelaide
Myanmar	-	Australia	0: 2 (0: 1)
July 20, 2006 in Adelaide
North Korea	-	Myanmar	3: 0 (2: 0)
July 20, 2006 in Adelaide
South Korea	-	Thailand	11: 0 (4: 0)
July 22, 2006 in Adelaide
South Korea	-	Myanmar	3: 1 (2: 0)
July 22, 2006 in Adelaide
Australia	-	North Korea	0-0
July 24, 2006 in Adelaide
Thailand	-	Australia	0: 5 (0: 2)
July 24, 2006 in Adelaide
North Korea	-	South Korea	1: 0 (0: 0)

Final round

Semifinals

July 27, 2006 in Adelaide
Japan	-	Australia	0: 2 (0: 2)
July 27, 2006 in Adelaide
North Korea	-	China	0: 1 (0: 0)

3rd place match

July 30, 2006 in Adelaide
Japan	-	North Korea	2: 3 (1: 3)

final

July 30, 2006 in Adelaide
China	-	Australia	2: 2 n.V., 4: 2 i. E.

In addition to China as the host, Australia and North Korea will qualify directly for the 2007 Women's World Cup . Japan was able to prevail in the play-off games against the third of the 2006 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup ( Mexico ).

Web links

• Statistics on rsssf.com