Chinese young striker Liu Sa will replace star forward Ma Xiaoxu to play in the Olympic women's soccer tournament after Ma injured her left knee in a warm-up three days ago, FIFA.com said on Sunday.

Liu, who was not named in the 18-player squad before Ma's injury, appeared in the team's Olympic roster on Sudany, but the team's press officer Dong Hua refused to confirm the change.

"Liu Sa is a cool-headed striker with a sharp nose for scoring goals," said head coach Shang Rihua, who is likely to use Han Duan and Xu Yuan as front-line starters. "She will provide the team with more options in attack."

Liu, just 21, put on good shows in a 5-1 thrashing of Thailand in June's Asian Cup, where she opened the scoring and created another goal.

Shang was very disappointed at the loss of the 20-year-old Ma. "She had been playing so well in recent games," the coach said. "It is a tremendous disappointment for us to be without her for the tournament."

Ma, playing as a starter in her team's warm-up game against the United States on July 30, was injured in the 30th minute and was taken to hospital.

"Her cross ligament on the left knee was ruptured," Shang told Xinhua.

It was the second blow to the ambitious Chinese team in a series of warm-up matches ahead of the Olympics. Ma's teammate, Qu Feifei, broke her leg in a warm-up against New Zealand on July 20.

China, in Group E with Sweden, Canada and Argentina at the Olympics, will kick off its opening match against Sweden here on August 6.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2008)