China played to a 1-1 tie against Mexico, a debutant in the Olympic games, Saturday in Patras in its second Group F match, grasping for slim hope to advance into the quarterfinals in the women's soccer tournament of the Athens Olympics.

Ji Ting hammered home China's equalizer in the 34th minute, the first for China in the Games.

"The draw put my team in a very dangerous position, and even to be eliminated depending on the result from Germany's match against Mexico," said Zhang Haitao, head coach of China.

Zhang said that his team mapped out plans for the decisive match, but his players, young and inexperienced, made some unforced mistakes on the pitch.

The Chinese coach said that "my players should do more basic training back home and adjustment will be made with some of the veterans to be retired after the Olympics."

Zhang said that the chance for China to advance was "very slim" following the 8-0 defeat in its opener against Germany.

Leonardo Cuellar, Mexican head coach, said that "my team is very honored to play with German and China", adding that Germany is one of the biggest favorites for the title, while China is also one of the prime teams.

The Mexican coach said that "my team learnt a lot from China, which played the game under a lot of pressure."

The match started with a determined Chinese team who has come, as its head coach said, to try to get a win over Mexico.

Ten minutes into the game, China started its pressing attacks when defender Teng Wei shot wide against the Mexican goal.

Mexico's Domionguez Mabel beat China's Li Jie for a shot, just off the target by inches. But she fired home a cross one minute later, leaving behind two helpless Chinese defenders. China attempted to gain an equalizer with four corners in the follwoing two minutes against a calm Mexican goalie Tajonar Pamela.

Mexico will play Germany on August 17 for its second group match. Of the ten teams in three groups, eight will make to the quarterfinals.

Source: Xinhua