By Xinhua
Shenyang (China) : With hosts China lifting the 2007 women's invitational football trophy here, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao satisfactorily completed their task and stood the test at a rehearsal for the 2008 Olympics.
The event served as a testing ground for all aspects of the organisation of the Olympic Games football events, such as reception services, safety and security, transportation, medical care, broadcasting, volunteers and weather forecasting services.
With less than 400 days to go for the Beijing Games, the tournament sent a strong message that the 2008 Olympic soccer events are in good hands, at least for now.
"I think it was a successful tournament. Even seeing from a rigorous standard, the whole event went smoothly and was very well organized. Everybody who was here can give a vote of confidence for next year's Olympic Games in Beijing," said Thailand's assistant team manager Khajohnkiat Nipatpokai.
"My staff and players all found no oversights in match arrangement, accommodation, transportation as well as security," he added.
Four women's teams – Italy, Mexico, Thailand and China – participated in the warm-up event for September's women's football World Cup, also being played in China, including Shenyang and Qinhuangdao, which will be venues for the 2008 Olympics football competition as well.
The two venues, Qinhuangdao's Olympic Center Stadium and Shenyang's newly completed Wulihe Stadium, were highly praised by the participators and visitors.
"It's perfect. We all felt lucky to have a chance to play on such beautiful pitches," said Mexico team manager Lepe Villarreal Gerardo.
Italian manager Elide Martini told the media: "Both stadiums look gorgeous and the pitches, my players told me, felt very good. It's may be two of the best stadiums I've seen."
The Qinhuangdao's competitive and training pitches had been washed by rain for two days before the tournament began July 1, but it seemed that the drainage system worked efficiently as the teams never complained.
"We did not feel any thing. It was not affected by the rain at all," said Italian coach Pietro Ghedin.
To imitate the full Olympic drill, the tournament was played on four competition days and all participants had to shuttle between the two cities during the 10-day event.
To solve travel problems, local organisers reserved a special carriage for the teams at the China Railway High-Speed (CRH), also called the D-capital train, on non-competition days. The move got wo praise from all quarters.
"I felt good. It's very comfortable and convenient," said Marika Domanski-Lyfors, the Chinese head coach.
"Many of us had been worried that the travel would weigh down the player after a tiring match. But it took just two hours to cover such a long distance between Qinhuangdao and Shenyang," said China's team manager Li Feiyu.
"We could even take a nap on the train, and no one was bothered by the travel," he added.
Italy and Thailand made their trips by D-capital train together with the Chinese team, while Mexico opted for a bus ride but they all praised the well-arranged trips and none appeared frustrated by the strenuous training sessions soon after arrival.
Also, there were no security worries at either venue.
Some 3,000 and 5,000 security forces had been deployed in Qinhuangdao and Shenyang respectively, in line with the number of spectators at a public function. Security checks on spectators were thorough with bags and plastic bottles banned betaking inside the stadiums.
"It's a good opportunity for us to get familiar with the venues and atmosphere, as well as the working content in organizing an Olympic-standard event. Through the organisation of such international competitions, we can discover problems and accumulate useful experience for the upcoming 2008 Games," said Xu Dadi, director of the Shenyang Zone Organising Committee for the 29th Beijing Olympic Games.
"If the whole exercise here were to be evaluated on a 100-point standard for a successful Olympics competition, I think we'd have scored 80," he commented.