CHINESE women’s soccer team has been drawn into a tough group with powerhouses Brazil and the Netherlands at this summer’s Tokyo Olympic Games.

The draw for the Olympic soccer competition was held at the headquarters of FIFA in Zurich, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

The 12 qualified women’s teams were pitted into three groups, with host Japan leading Group E alongside Canada, Britain and Chile.

China’s “Steel Roses,” who edged South Korea in their final qualifier earlier this month, will face two-time Olympic finalist Brazil, the Netherlands and Zambia.

Although this is the first time that the Netherlands has qualified for the Olympics, its senior team has showed great progress in recent years, winning the European Championship in 2017 and reaching the 2019 World Cup final.

Group G features Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States.

The U.S. women’s team has won four golds and one silver at the Olympics, but was knocked out of the quarterfinals at the 2016 Rio Games by Sweden, which reached the final where the side lost to Germany.

In the men’s competition, Japan will host South Africa, Mexico and France in Group A. Defending champion Brazil leads Group D with 2016 runner-up Germany, Cote d’Ivoire and Saudi Arabia.

Group B features New Zealand, South Korea, Honduras and Romania, while Group C contains Egypt, Spain, Argentina and Australia.

The women’s soccer tournament for Tokyo 2020 will kick off July 21, with the final scheduled for Aug. 6. The men’s event will start July 22 and the final will be staged Aug. 7.

China’s national women’s team head coach Jia Xiuquan said Wednesday that his team will prepare fully for the Tokyo Olympics from now on. “We didn’t imagine before the draw,” said Jia, “but we will collect the information according to the draw from now on.”

Jia, who took over the team in 2018 and steered the side to the elimination phase in the 2019 World Cup, noted that women’s soccer had changed a lot in recent years.

“The teams from Africa are emerging, along with the traditional powerhouses, but we are also a good team.”

“Just like the World Cup two years ago, they all said we were in a Group of Death, but we eventually advanced with good performances, so we expect a better result based on that,” Jia added.

(Xinhua)