The Chinese women's national football team beat South Korea 1-0 on Monday to book their spot at the Rio Olympics 2016.

They will be joined by Australia, who overcame resolute North Korea after beating them 2-1. Meanwhile, 2012 silver medallists Japan have been eliminated from the competition.

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South Korea was in a must win situation to keep their qualification hopes alive, while China needed a victory to guarantee their spot at the Rio Olympics.

The match looked to be heading for a stalemate at half time, but China broke the deadlock just two minutes before the referee blew the whistle. Wang Shanshan netted a cross from Wang Shuang to give China the lead in 43^rd minute.      

In second half South Korea pressed hard to find the equalizer, but could not break through strong Chinese defense.

In 82^nd minute, China came very close to take an unassailable 2-0 lead as Chinese players launched successive attacks, but the South Korean defense held firm.

The match eventually ended 1-0 in China's favor. The defeat all but ended South Korea's chance to qualify for the Rio Olympics.

"We won and got three points today. It's the best result that we could expect," Wang Shanshan said after the game. "We were a little tired today, maybe because it was the fourth game. But we performed better."

The Chinese women's national football failed to qualify for 2012 London Olympics. The team's most successful campaign in the Olympics was in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where the team ended up as runner up, losing to the United States 2-1 in the finals.            

TagsChinese women's national football team, Rio Olympics 2016