EDMONTON, Alberta — China hosted the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991 and did so again in 2007. It finished second to the United States in epic final matches at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 1999 World Cup. And its star forward at the time, Sun Wen, was named with the American Michelle Akers as the greatest female soccer players of the 20th century.
But that golden era of women’s soccer in the world’s most populous nation has faded. China did not even qualify for the 2011 Women’s World Cup or the 2012 London Olympics.