Talents like Wang Shuang don't come often. Especially for China PR women's football team.
A free-scoring midfielder who has won over 100 caps despite still being only 26 years old, and who was good enough to be signed by Paris Saint-Germain three years ago.
After a 5-0 loss to Brazil in their first of Group F on Saturday, she couldn't do much more to lift up the Steel Roses in her second and race to the Tokyo Olympics.
Wang Shuang scored a hat-trick of four goals in 23 minutes against a team that was ranked 89 places below China's 15th in the world rankings.
the only problem? China somehow attempted to end a two-goal lead against world number 115 Zambia, and then needed a penalty in the 89th minute from Wang to pull them out and save a 4-4 draw.
Football is a team sport and the rest of Wang's teammates cannot be blamed for their effort.
However, there is also a feeling that this will be a real missed opportunity for China if they are not able to capitalize on the talent of a generation of his potential by providing him with a slightly stronger supporting cast.
Given their relative youth, there is still time to bring some more talent to Chinese women's football in the hopes of achieving success at least on the continental stage in the coming years, with the eight-time Asian champion's eventual victory in 2006. With.
In the immediate future, China will have to somehow achieve a result against 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup runners-up Netherlands to stand any chance of progressing to the Olympic quarter-finals.
Nadeshiko has a lot left to do after the defeat
Japan can no longer be the powerhouse they were when they were crowned world champions in 2011, and then won a silver medal at the London Games a year later.
Nevertheless, as the host nation and still ranked 10th in the world, they would be hoping to at least make the knockout rounds.
After an initial 1-1 draw with Canada, Nadeshiko was beaten 1-0 by Great Britain on Saturday - leaving them third in Group E.
Along with the group winners and runners-up, the two best third-placed teams also advance to the quarters, so all is not lost for the Japanese.
But if they fail to beat Chile on Tuesday, alarm bells will sound.