China's 'Steel Roses' footballers defy virus to lift spirits

China's women's football team has emerged as a symbol of defiance against the coronavirus after coming out of quarantine to move to the brink of a place at the Tokyo Olympics.

With sport at a standstill in China because of the outbreak, which has killed more than 2,500 people in the country, the team have become a source of national pride with their exploits.

Despite being quarantined after arriving in Australia for a qualifying tournament -- where they stretched in their hotel corridor and ran up stairs to stay fit -- the Steel Roses went unbeaten to set up a two-legged playoff with South Korea, with an Olympic berth at stake.

State media have heaped gushing praise on the team in the last few weeks, and with all domestic football halted because of the virus, their exploits have won prominent coverage.

"Steel Roses' unbeaten record in Olympic qualifiers brightens Chinese hearts amid epidemic," said Xinhua news agency, a day after a 1-1 draw with Australia put China into the playoff.

Further disruption is in store for the team, who face South Korea on March 6 and 11 but have to play the home leg, the second game, in Sydney because of the virus.

It follows a build-up to the qualifying competition that could hardly have been worse.

The tournament was pulled out of Wuhan -- the city at the centre of the global health scare -- at short notice and moved first to Nanjing, then Australia.

Authorities there placed the whole Chinese squad in quarantine on a floor of a Brisbane hotel for a week, where photographs emerged of the players doing stretching exercises in a corridor.

They also ran on the staircases to stay fit, the People's Daily said.

They were missing four key members, notably star Wang Shuang, the Wuhan native and former Paris Saint-Germain player who was not allowed to leave quarantine at home.

"We came here not as individuals, but on behalf of the whole of China," said midfielder Tang Jiali, according to state media.

"We hope we can give encouragement to the motherland."
- 'Not afraid' -
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"How could they be sharp after almost 10 days without touching a ball?"