LE HAVRE, France, June 19 -- China can go far in the FIFA Women's World Cup if they can shake off the pressure which led to their under-performance in the group stage, head coach Jia Xiuquan told Xinhua on Wednesday.

China, with one win, one draw and one loss, narrowly qualified for the last 16, where they will face Italy or England.

When China held Spain to a 0-0 draw in their last group match to secure a spot in the knockout stage on Monday, Jia, 56, was moved to tears.

"My team was under attack throughout the match, but the girls withstood it," he said.

"I was moved by my players' fighting spirit. They wanted to show the world that they did not want to go home early. They wanted to grind out the result they desired," he said.

According to Jia, his team, which scored only one goal across three group games, would have performed better if they had not been so nervous.

"During these three games, we always had two or three players who under-performed. They were too nervous," he said.

He rued missed scoring opportunities in China's 1-0 loss to Germany in their first group game, in which China wasted three good chances in the first half before conceding one goal after the break.

"We came close to scoring, we came close to success, but we have to admit we were not good enough," he acknowledged.

"When you face a strong team, you cannot afford to waste chances, and you cannot afford to expose yourself. You could get punished for a minor mistake," he said.

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