SAINT-MALO, Francia.- Haiti kicked off its FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup with a narrow 2-1 defeat against China in the opening match of Group D on Monday at the Stade De Marville.
Y.J. Zhao gave the Asians a lead with a strike in the 13th minute. Qiwen Xie sent in a cross from the left and Zhao did well to fire the ball into the corner of the far post.
Haiti showed some bright flashes during the first half, but started off slowly in the second half and conceded the second goal a minute after the restart. Kun Jin found space to play a ball into the area to Mengyu Shen, who made no mistake to make it a 2-0 scoreline.
Despite the fact that Haiti was not as solid as in the first half, China was unable to close things out, leaving the door open for the U-20 WWC debuntants in the final minutes. Haiti took advantage of a Jiaxing Dou foul in the area, allowing Nerilia Mondesir to score from the penalty spot to cut the lead to 2-1.
The Haitian captain then came close to pulling her side level in the final minutes, but her header was saved on the line by Linlin Wang after China goalkeeper Huan Xu had been beaten.
In Group D’s other match, Germany defeated Nigeria 1-0.
Haiti will return to action on Thursday, August 9 against Nigeria, while the Germans will face China that same day.
