The Chinese Football Association today announced the departure of the Swedish coach, who was hired just seven months to become the first foreigner to head the team.

Domanski-Lyfors leaves four weeks after her team was knocked out of the women's World Cup in the quarterfinals with a 1-0 loss to Norway. She said her goal had been to reach the semifinals.

Chinese Football Association officials said they attempted to keep her, but said she had expressed a desire to leave for "health and family" reasons.

"We have worked hard to keep her but we also understand and respect her decision," the soccer body said in a statement.

Chinese newspaper reports suggested she left after football association officials declined to give her more control over training methods and staff decisions.

Domanski-Lyfors replaced coach Ma Liangxing, who had been away from the team for several months with reported heart problems. Before she took over, China lost a string of games including an embarrassing 4-1 loss to Iceland in the Algarve Cup in March in Portugal.

Domanski-Lyfors coached Sweden's women for nine years, and the team finished as runner-up to Germany in the 2003 World Cup final. She resigned in 2005. As the China coach, she won 10 of 17 matches, lost six and drew one and was widely credited with improving play.