Germany, China criticize FIFA's referee arrangement

Both German and Chinese head coaches doubted FIFA's arrangement of having the second assistant referee Emmanuella Aglago of Ghana here on Wednesday, as Ghana is at the same group with Germany and China in FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup finals.

"There are so many referees at the tournament, why did they choose one from Ghana?" complained German head coach Anouschka Bernhard, and her Chinese peer Zhang Chonglai wouldn't disagree about that.

German substitute Ricarda Kissling's last minute goal forced China to swallow a 1-1 tie with the traditional powerhouse. China led Group D with four points, the same with Germany but better for goal difference. Ghana pocketed a 5-0 victory from Uruguay to place third in the group with three points. Ghana will face China four days later.

China controlled the whole match, taking an early lead from Miao Siwen's 12th minute goal inside the penalty area. Yet Kissling's last minute goal helped Germany to snatch one point from the struggling match.

"Women's football is almost at the lowest level right now in China. It's also the first time that we entered the U-17 finals. I'm totally happy with the results, but still some improvements are needed," said Chinese head coach Zhang, as his players burst into tears when they walked hand-in-hand towards the Chinese audience on the stands and bowed.

Yang Tiejian, a manager of Sinoma, brought three Chinese national flags with his 21 college compatriots to the stadium to show their support.

"It's my first time to see a Chinese team playing here. I'll never forget tonight. Our girls are amazing!" said Yang who has been working in Azerbaijan for almost five years.

Liu Yangqing, a junior student at Azerbaijan State Oil Academy, said he borrowed a national flag from the other Chinese student who could only watch television back in the dorm.

"Our Football Association is very helpful to us. There're some officials from Chinese Football Association who can help me to analyze our opponents," said coach Zhang who watched Germany's team only once before the match.

German coach Bernhard was satisfied with her team's performance, though she admitted that Germany was a bit lucky in the first half "as the Chinese could have scored more goals".

"It was not easy to get close to the goal and the strikers were not very consequent," said Bernhard.