AFC Women's Asian Cup - Milicic pleased with China PR’s start; Bangladesh’s Butler remains bullish

Sydney: Ante Milicic was delighted to see China PR make a positive start to their AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026™ campaign, registering a 2-0 win against plucky Bangladesh in their Group B tie on Tuesday.

In a match which the East Asian side dominated with close to 60 percent possession and 24 attempts, Milicic admitted there were nerves at play as first half strikes from Wang Shuang and Zhang Rui settled the contest.

#WAC2026 | Group B: China PR 2-0 Bangladesh

“The game was as we expected,” said Milicic. “We knew the opponents were a young team who work hard and play without pressure. I like the way they went about it, they pressed high and caused us some problems.

“The way we prepared for the game, I expected a more controlled performance.Maybe there was too much anxiety to do well and to win the game. That’s normal but in tournament football, the first game is always tricky. To win and keep a clean sheet, we move on to the next one.”

The Australian tactician also reserved special praise for debutant Zhang Chengxue who was not only a rock solid presence in right-back position but also went close several times in the second half to add to China PR’s score.

The 30-year-old Shandong Ticai Women’s FC player is one of those who benefited from Milicic’s bid to expand China PR’s talent pool.

“She has a good build, she’s direct. She scored 4-5 good goals for her club. Needs to work on her crossing but she’s aggressive.

“Look, we have 26 players, you need depth. Li Mengwen has been in Scotland but hasn’t played a lot of football due to injury. That’s what we try to bring into the team. For her first appearance and at the Asian Cup, she had a good performance.”

While defeat was not the start Bangladesh wanted on their continental debut, head coach Peter Butler was nevertheless proud of the performance his young charges put in, especially in holding China PR at bay until the final moments of the first half.

Improvements after the break saw a more balanced game with Butler hoping the experience of the opening tie will imbue his players with more confidence ahead of a tough match against DPR Korea on Friday.

“Congratulations to China,” said Butler. “At times it looked like they could run away with it but we dug deep. I asked the girls to give the best version of themselves and more importantly, be who you are and what you’re about.

“It’s a strange one because it’s a game where you go in not wanting to get hammered. I’m just pleased that we got this game out of the way, we’ve got a really tough game to come against DPR Korea.

“Hopefully they will settle down after this game and more importantly, we didn’t disgrace ourselves with our performance. I’m proud of the girls, they did their country proud.”

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