Chinese women's national soccer team captain Wu Haiyan said she expects the Steel Roses' achievement at the -Women's World Cup in Canada could inspire more people to love soccer as the team arrived in Beijing on Monday.
"I hope our achievement at the World Cup could inspire more people to -participate in soccer," the 22-year-old told reporters after being given a -bouquet by some of the hundreds of fans who met the team's plane at the airport. "I hope we can bring more happiness to the fans in the future."
China was knocked out in the quarterfinals by the U.S. in a 1-0 match on Friday, but the result is the best in eight years for the 1999 runners-up.
"I really enjoyed the event, we did better game after game," Wu said. "It's a great experience for us."
For many players, the games in -Canada are their first experience of playing at a World Cup finals.
"Of course there are regrets, we could have gone further in the tournament," said the captain.
Speaking of the lower salary and -attention of women's footballers when compared with men, Wu said she doesn't like the comparison but wants to have more people paying attention to Chinese soccer as a whole.
Defender Li Dongna, 26, the second eldest player in the team, said she is proud of the team's defending, but indicated her younger teammates deserve more fame.
"The applause should go to my younger teammates, their contribution should not be ignored," Li said.
Starting keeper Wang Fei, who is among the three overseas players, said the result is just part of restoring the pride of the earlier national team.
China conceded four goals when Wang was between the sticks in five games.
Team director Yu Hongchen, who is also the vice-president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), said China is among the best second-tier teams in the world, and in Asia's top tier.
"We learned there's still a gap -between the world top-tier teams and us, this is crucial for our future development," Yu said.
"The result shows we are on the right track, but we still have a lot to -improve."
Japan is the other top team in Asia as it won the 2011 World Cup.
