China outplays Venezuela to win women's football gold at YOG

China won the women's football title at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games with a 5-0 win against Venezuela at the Wutaishan Sports Centre Stadium Tuesday evening.

The home crowd witnessed the host team outplay the south Americans throughout the match with the result never in doubt.

The Venezuelans struggled to find the form that had left them unbeaten coming into the final, as China's strong and fast attacking strategy got it to a 3-0 halftime lead.

Wan Wenting scored first with a header in the 10th minute, which was followed by a Xie Qiwen header in the 19th minte and a lovely, long chip from Ma Xiaolan in the 34th minute.

If China had been able to turn all their first half chances into goals, the lead could have been much higher as it tallied eight shots on goal and many more close calls.

China's strong defence also prevented Venezuela's top scorer and most dangerous player, Deyna Castellanos, from getting the chance to unleash her full range of skills.

Second half goals from Zhang Jiayun in the 45th minute and Xu Xi in injury time completed the damage for Venezuela.

"We were working really hard towards that goal and prepared for a long time with blood, tears and sweat," said China goalkeeper Xu Huan. "We didn't think we would win by that much because we thought Venezuela would be very strong, but they weren't."

"We are really happy with our performance and so proud to win that gold."