The loss put the seal on a disappointing tournament for the Chinese as the first time the nation’s representatives failed to progress to the knockout rounds of the Women’s World Cup in eight editions.

“The fans in China like to compare that team in 1999 and the team now, and every team, every year,” Gao said. “The team four years ago at the World Cup was compared with us and after four years they continue to compare them to us.

“The coach has delivered the spirit of 1999 to now. The Chinese Football Association has used coaches from our generation, like Shui Qingxia, and five years ago I coached the youth team in the CFA.

“The spirit of the Steel Roses is from then to now. But I think football should go forward, we should not always look back. We should go forward, go abroad, go professional.”

Gao played for China when the country was among the pioneers of the women’s game, hosting the first-ever Women’s World Cup in 1991 and organising the tournament again in 2007. Gao represented China at the 1995 and 1999 finals.

The nation dominated at the Asian level, winning seven consecutive continental titles from 1986 to 1999 before adding an eighth in 2006, while also reaching the final of both the 1996 Olympic Games and the 1999 Women’s World Cup, losing on both occasions to the United States.

Financial and logistical support from the Chinese government helped establish the sport at the local and provincial level, backing which Gao believed had significant societal benefits and established the country as a trailblazer for the women’s game.

“The players have a job, a stable salary and a position and that has changed a lot of girls’ lives,” she said. “That has encouraged the girls to play and it’s one of the big reasons [why China has done well].

“And we have a professional league too now. Although it’s a closed league, so it’s more like a tournament. But a lot of girls love football and want to change their [lives] through football.”

Only six of the 23-player squad representing China at the Women’s World Cup in Australia play outside the country, while several others have experienced life overseas.

That is a path Gao followed herself, playing in Japan and the United States before studying and coaching at home and abroad.

“It’s not only football, it’s about life, and I want them to go out and look, to learn, to think: ‘Who I am, where I’m going, what kind of person do I want to become?’” Gao said.

“I encourage them to get an education for themselves and after four years if you still want to play, it should be from your heart. We didn’t have that kind of awareness in China when I was young.”

It has been more than two decades since Gao hung her gloves to focus on coaching and education, but as the World Cup moves closer to the final on August 20, many minds will return to the now 55-year-old’s performances in the global spotlight.

The former Guangdong FC goalkeeper stood between the US and glory in a shoot-out at Pasadena Rose Bowl. Gao was unable to deny the hosts, as Brandi Chastain hit the winning spot-kick.

“I didn’t think about if I lost what I was going to do. I was always thinking how I can win, how can I be a success,” Gao said. “I didn’t feel nervous, I was just thinking, struggling that I could not find the way that the US players were kicking.

“I couldn’t find that idea. I can usually find that by their eyes, their actions, movements, a little bit. Then I feel comfortable. At that moment I could not, [and I was] only struggling.”