“I think China is a force in sports and has an amazing sports culture,” she said. “These athletes are incredible, they are dedicated and they work hard.”
“If you just give them a little bit of confidence, they’re great. So I hope that even more comes from that.”
Annan coached the Netherlands when they won gold in Tokyo in 2021. He resigned early the following year after a dispute with the Royal Netherlands Hockey Association over improving the team’s culture.
Instead, the Chinese have benefited from improvements since May 2022, when they named Annan, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, as a player for her native Australia.
Now ranked 6th in the world, they beat Australia (5th) and Belgium (3rd) before falling just short of the gold medal against the Netherlands. The final was a repeat of the 2008 final in Beijing, when the Netherlands won 2-0.
“I hope this is not a one-off and we don’t have to wait (16) years to get to the final again,” Annan said.
At the start of this decisive game, Chen silenced the crowd, which was almost entirely dressed in orange, with a low pass.
Dutch striker Frederique Matla quickly hit a post while Chinese goalkeeper Ye Jiao frustrated the Netherlands with a handful of sharp saves. Jansen’s tough equaliser sparked celebrations on and off the pitch at the Yves du Manoir Stadium.
Pien Sanders, Maria Verschoor and Marijn Veen all scored confidently in the penalty shootout. Zhong Jiaqi was China’s only successful shooter. He Jiangxin, Zou Meirong and Ma Ning were all denied by Dutch goalkeeper Anne Veenendaal.
Annan denied that she was even more motivated by the match against the Netherlands, whom she led to Olympic silver before triumphing in Tokyo in 2016. “I am training China and that is something special,” said the 51-year-old.
She was a goalscorer in Australia’s victories in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic finals, but China’s foray into gold medal contention was “at the top” of her career list for her.
“It’s what we’re giving up to be here, being away from family and friends… a lot of the things behind the scenes that we’ve done and changed,” said Annan, who revealed she was in talks with Chinese hockey bosses about extending her term.
“This is a team that really wanted to get on the podium and was ready to believe in the task we set them.
“We were just minutes away from winning a gold medal, that’s incredible and that can only create a strong bond with your players.
“I didn’t come here to change a culture. That wasn’t my job. I came here to be part of the culture.”
When asked if she regretted losing the gold so late, Annan said: “I have no regrets. We knew it would be difficult against the world number 1.”
“They thought they were going to beat everyone here by five goals. We forced them into penalties and I’m extremely proud of the players.”
Defender Gu Bingfeng, who played in all eight of China’s games in France, said: “We trained with high intensity and improved.
“I think the biggest change for us is our determination and then we have this particularly great coach. She teaches us how to control games and gives us new tactics. We are on an upward trajectory now.”
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