BEIJING (AFP) - China's new national women's football coach has vowed to clean up the "mess" left after Frenchwoman Elisabeth Loisel was sacked five months ahead of the Beijing Olympics, state media said Tuesday.

"I know lots of people are talking about the awful mess and having doubts about the future," the China Daily quoted Shang Ruihua as saying.

"I cannot allow the team to stay in this mess anymore as we have no time left before the Beijing Games."

Shang, 63, said his first major task was to bring unity back to the side that has failed to perform up to expectations in recent years and has been tasked to reach at least the semi-finals of the August Games.

"I am not a picky coach and I will not complain about the mess," Shang said.

"I am willing to accept the challenge and help our women's team out of the deep end."

Shang coached the national side to a fifth place at the inaugural women's World Cup in China in 1991.

He is China's fifth women's football coach since the Athens Olympics less than four years ago.

Loisel, 44, was fired late last month less than five months after the association appointed her head coach with a mission of bringing the team back to the world elite-level, according to media reports.

Loisel endured a fractious relationship with Chinese officials during her tenure and was under regular attack by the media. Problems came to a head after China finished ninth in the recent Algarve Cup in Portugal.

According to the China Daily, the team once known as the "steel roses," has dropped to a 14th place world ranking, the lowest ever, and below Asian rivals North Korea, ranked world number six and Japan at number 10.

Loisel took over from Swedish coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors, who abruptly quit after a poor run in the women's World Cup last year. She also reportedly had become embroiled in disputes with association bureaucrats.

China's women's football team has been in a downward spiral over the past 10 years after winning the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics and placing second in the 1999 World Cup.