South Africa 5-4-1 (Swart – Ramalepe, Mbane, Van Wyk, Matlou, Holweni – Kgatlana, Makhabane, Biyana, Jane – Fulutudilu)

China 4-4-2 (Peng – Han, Wu, Lin, Liu – Li, Zhang, Wang Y, Gu – Shanshan, Shuang)

After a 1-3 defeat to Spain, South Africa approached this game with greater caution, lining up in a defensive 5-4-1 shape that saw both of their wing-backs refuse to push on consistently and instead remain in touch with the back three of Mbane, Van Wyk and Matlou. They were intensely man-to-man in midfield, but this struggled to stop China’s attacking play.

Having played long for almost all of their defeat to Germany, here China showed greater variety to their possession game. They exploited South Africa’s man-marking in midfield by playing out to their full-backs who then played diagonal passes into the feet of a dropping forward. While still looking to play forward quickly, China mixed long balls to Wang Shanshan with combination play between their overlapping full-backs and their wingers, as well as using diagonal balls in from wide to their front two.

Wang Shuang, their star playmaker who was rested against Germany for tactical reasons, came into the line-up as a support to Shanshan, and she often supported her strike partner to receive lay-offs or pick up the second balls after Shanshan’s aerial duels.

South Africa looked to counter-attack quickly and release their quick forwards early in transition. Kgatlana, who scored against Spain, once again showed her aggression and speed on the ball in these situations, though there was a lack of end product once she got into dangerous situations. Too often she shot from awkward angles or went to dribble rather than finding a teammate in a better position.

China coped with these counters better than Spain had, mainly because their attack was more balanced and they didn’t commit so many players forward in an attempt to break South Africa down. The Chinese also defended well in their 4-4-2 shape, pressing high to try and disrupt South Africa’s build-up. If one of the outside centre-backs, Mbane or Matlou, received the ball with her back to goal, the near Chinese winger would step up quickly to apply pressure and rush her. As a consequence, South Africa rarely progressed the ball through the thirds with any stability, and were forced to go long or simply give up possession.

As well as some nice, direct attacking play and organised pressing, China were a real threat from crosses. Shanshan once again showed good aerial ability in the opposition penalty box, while Gu and Shuang’s deliveries from the left-hand side in open play and from set pieces respectively were accurate.