China Football Association (CFA) continues to keep alive the slim hope that women's soccer coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors will change her mind and stay with the team, even though CFA's reported deadline to do so has passed.

Officials had said CFA would no longer tolerate Domanski's postponement in signing the contract, indicating they would seek out other candidates if the Swedish coach failed to make a final decision by midnight yesterday.

But they seem to have backed off a bit, confirming to Sina.com it is not yet time to rush to conclusions.

"Because there is still something that needs to be settled, the contract extension will be postponed again," said CFA's vice-president Yang Yiming.

Since the women's team will resume training on October 25, Sina.com reported, CFA will make its final decision closer to that date.

But another chief official denied that CFA had ever set a deadline for Domanski.

"CFA and Domanski did not have any deal about a deadline," said Xie Yalong, also CFA Vice-President. "I know media are anxious to see the result, and so am I. But it's not coming out yet.

"What we should do now is wait and hope she comes back."

Domanski has said that due to an illness of one of her assistants, she will not make her final decision until after she learns of the diagnosis. She was not available for further comment on Wednesday.

Domanski graciously accepted responsibility for China's early exit from the FIFA Women's World Cup last month. The vocal support from both players and chief officials following China's quarterfinal loss strongly suggested that the dignified mentor would be retained and would steer the team into the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Since then, rumors surfaced that Domanski asked to take full control of the team before the Olympics, which displeased some chief officials.

Domanski is credited with getting China back in form after she took over in late March, leading the team to a string of victories.

Since the Chinese women's team grabbed silver at the 1999 World Cup - the best-ever finish for China - women's soccer in China has been in a slump, falling out of the form shown by the "Steel Roses", a team led by star striker Sun Wen and playmaker Liu Anling.

After many stars from that silver-medal squad retired, China's transition to the next generation has stuttered due to a dearth of talent and frequent coaching shuffles.

Now with less than 300 days to go before the Beijing Olympics, the women's soccer team is likely to face another round of coach shuffling, forcing it to spend still more time getting used to a new coach.

Sources say German coach Krautzun Eckhard would be an ideal replacement because of his experience as head coach of China's youth team and as a technical advisor for the women's team. Local coaches such as Ma Liangxing and Wang Haiming are also said to be among possible candidates to succeed the Swede.

The latest speculation is linked to Brazil's high-profile women's coach, Jorge Barcellos, who led the team to a best-ever silver at last month's World Cup.

The Soccer newspaper reported Barcellos has expressed interest in taking over China's women's team.

(China Daily October 19, 2007)