China takes opening win in U17 women's World Cup debut

China took the opening win in FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup finals debut, sweeping a 4-0 victory against 10-women Uruguay on Sunday.

China made historic first qualification for the U-17 finals last year by finishing at third place in the AFC U-16 Women's Championships, where the team leveled with reigning world champions South Korea on seven points but outperformed on goal difference.

China controlled the field throughout the match, as local audience waving Chinese national flags in Dalga Arena. Tang Jiali opened with a close range shot from her teammate Song Dan's cross in 23rd minute. Zhang Chen's cool-headed personal performance extended the lead in 34th and 41st minutes.

Trailing at 3-0, Uruguay's hope of comeback shattered as goal-keeper Gabriela Gonzalez was sent off directly by Scotland referee Morag Pirie in 51st minute, after she handled the ball with hands outside the penalty box.

Even admitting that main problem of the team remains in mid-field, Uruguay head coach Graciela Rebollo had to replace midfielder Alaides Bonilla with substitute goalkeeper Anabel Ubal.

The CONMEBOL U-17 Women's World Cup runner-up got so tired-out against China that the referee had to pause to let several injured Uruguayan players receive medical treatment. Lu Yueyun dribbled through Uruguayan defenders to lock down at 4-0 with her 79th minute solo drive.

"In the second half, we re-organized the team. The red card on Gabriela just forced us to re-organize again," Uruguay head coach Rebollo said in the press conference, yet she agreed that the tearful 16-year-old girl should get the red-card punishment.

Both the coach and players of China believed that there's still a lot to improve in their games. Chinese captain Jiang Tingting, 17, claimed that she's also "not happy" with the team's performance.

"It's just our first match and we were just lucky to start with a win. Players need more matches to warm up for an event like this. We could have done better," said the Chinese head coach Zhang Chonglai.

Pooling with Uruguay, Germany and Ghana in Group D, China is due to face Germany on Wednesday. Germany beat Ghana 2-1 in the same stadium earlier in the afternoon session.