BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Jia Xiuquan, head coach of the Chinese women's national football team, has revealed to Xinhua that his squad has always been eying the title at next month's World Cup in France.
The 56-year-old former boss of China men's under-19 football team emphasized that they are not expected to win the trophy, but are daring to dream big.
"Yes, it's me who said our aim was to reach the final of the Women's World Cup, however we might go even further and win the championship. Yes, I have not changed my mind if you ask me. This the target I set for my squad," Jia said.
"But my whole team and I have kept a clear mind in the meantime," he added.
"We know that we are far apart from the world elite women's football, and we've been working out we can narrow the gap between the top squads and ourselves."
Jia, after taking over from Sigurdur Ragnar Eyjolfsson on June 1 2018, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview after the Women's World Cup draw last December that he set the Steel Roses, Asia's fifth ranked team and the world's 15th, a minimum target of the knockout stage.
"I know it sounds much more reasonable for us to aim at a quarterfinal finish, but I don't want my players to focus on such a low target," he said. "I want them first to dream big and then go all out to achieve the highest goal possible."
With China drawn in a group alongside the footballing giants of Germany and Spain, as well as top African side South Africa, it would be a significant achievement for Jia and his squad to meet his high expectations.
The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup which starts on June 7 in France is the showpiece event in women's football and China will be hoping that a few big results will give them the confidence to build towards a memorable tournament.
Jia, one of the most traveled Chinese football coaches in the game, has spent most of his career focusing on men's football before earning the opportunity to coach the women's national side.
Building his experience in men's football for over 20 years, Jia was nominated as the "Coach of the Year" in 2015 and 2016 for his work at Henan Jianye in the Chinese Super League.
