Norway, the 1995 World Cup titlists and Sydney Olympic champions, captured the only chance in the first half to beat the hosts 1-0 and set up a semi-final clash with defending champions Germany.

After boasting a 7-1 advantage in shot statistics in the first 30 minutes, China conceded a goal in 32nd when defender Wang Kun lost concentration in the box, let the chasing Norway striker Isabell Herlovsen secured the ball from her control. Herlovsen shot the gift home without any hesitation.

Answering a question, Domanski-Lyfors said, "I talked with Wang in the interval. She felt very sad. I encouraged her and as you see, she did a very good job in the second half."

"We dominated the game in most of the time, pressed the Norwegians very hard and created many scoring chances. The Norwegians only had one brilliant chance but they captured it."

The stalwart Chinese girls created more scoring chances than the Norwegians, 15 against 8 in statistics, and often laid siege on their opponents.

Domanski-Lyfors expressed her sadness to lose the game in such a manner, admitting that such kind of thing often happened in world arena.

As China failed to make their aim of advancing to top four on home soil, Domanski-Lyfors said, "At this moment, I don't know if I can direct this team to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics."

Domanski-Lyfors, a Swede, led Sweden to runners-up of 2003 World Cup in the United States and took over the Chinese team in March this year.