This Day, That Year

Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

After it was established in December 1983, the Chinese women's national soccer team dominated the next seven editions of the Asian Cup until 2001.

They also played a leading role in the early years of the women's game internationally and hosted the inaugural World Cup in 1991, finishing fifth.

The late 1990s was a golden era for the team, which was dubbed the Steel Roses after finishing as runner-up in the 1996 Olympic Games and the 1999 World Cup. The amazing 5-0 semifinal triumph against Norway in 1999 and the subsequent defeat on penalties against the United States were remembered for a long time.

The best player of that golden generation, Sun Wen, was named joint FIFA female player of the century with Michelle Akers. She now serves as director of the women's youth training department of the China Football Association.

An item in China Daily on July 13, 1999, showed journalists and fans crowding around a bus carrying members of the Chinese women's soccer team at Beijing Capital International Airport.

The team returned to a heroic welcome after finishing second in the third women's World Cup final in Los Angeles.

After all that success, however, the team entered a downward spiral and has not won the Asian Cup since 2007.

Over the past decade, the women's team has suffered from a lack of talent and insufficient investment. Although the Steel Roses showed steady improvement, it failed to make the quarterfinals of this year's Women's World Cup in France.

Things have begun to change in recent years. The country has set a short-term goal of qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and a long-term goal of transforming China into a soccer powerhouse by 2050, according to a development plan announced in 2016.