CHINA’S women sealed a last-ditch spot at the Tokyo Olympics soccer Tuesday by squeezing past South Korea 4-3 on aggregate, a thrilling conclusion to a qualifying campaign dogged by coronavirus delays.

Former Paris Saint-Germain forward Wang Shuang scored the winner in overtime in front of 13,000 jubilant fans in Suzhou, East China’s Jiangsu Province, after South Korea recovered from a 2-1 first-leg home deficit.

Wuhan native Wang curled the ball into the bottom corner from just outside the box in the first period of extra time to torpedo South Korea’s hopes of playing at the Olympics for the first time.

Players from both teams collapsed to the turf at the end.

For the Asian rivals it was the final chapter in a long qualifying campaign. This decider — one of two remaining berths for Tokyo — was scheduled for March last year but was postponed three times because of the coronavirus.

South Korea, which had never reached the Olympics since women’s soccer was introduced in 1996, were a threat every time the side attacked and silenced the home supporters when Kang Chae-rim scored on the half hour.

The visitors made it 2-2 on aggregate but South Korea needed to score again and they did so on the stroke of half-time thanks to an own goal.

China, 15th in the FIFA rankings to South Korea’s 18th, had barely threatened but substitute Yang Man popped up to level the tie 3-3.

“The match was even harder than I expected. I would like to thank all my players for not giving up when we were 0-2 behind. As long as they can carry on the spirit, I believe that our team will become better and better,” Chinese head coach Jia Xiuquan said at the post-match press conference. (SD-Xinhua)