The Paper's reporter Pu Yaolei
The choice of Chinese women's football coaches that has attracted fans' attention for a long time has finally come to fruition.
With the official announcement of the Chinese Football Association on November 18, Shui Qingxia became the new head coach of the Chinese women's football team and will lead the team to start a new journey.
It is worth mentioning that the Chinese Football Association has previously conducted an open competition, but there is no Shui Qingxia among the participants in the competition. Judging from the results, the result of this competition for soap operas is also unsuccessful.
At the Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese women's football team was once shrouded in a "cloud of doubt", and now that it has entered a new era, what this team needs is to move forward steadily in an environment without tossing.
Shui Qingxia This article image CFP
The first local female coach of the Chinese women's football team took the position
In women's football, the probability of female coaches appearing is naturally much higher than that of the men's football world, but for Chinese women's football, a female coach is still the first time.
Previously, the Chinese women's football team had hired two female coaches, Domansky and Elizabeth, but both were foreign coaches, and the arrival of Shui Qingxia was a new attempt by the Chinese women's football team, but it had long been expected by many insiders.
From the beginning of her football career, Shui Qingxia has witnessed the history of Women's Football in Shanghai and even China, she entered the sports school at the age of 11 to practice athletics, and in 1983 she was recommended to go to the women's football team, which was the first time in shanghai history to establish a women's football team. After that, Shui Qingxia also became the first Shanghai player in the history of Chinese women's football to be called up.
Now that she has become the first female coach of Chinese women's football, her biggest capital is her efforts and efforts in the football circle over the years. At the age of 17, she only came into contact with football at an "advanced age", and at first she did not know anything about football, but through her own hard work, she stood out step by step, and eventually became one of the creators of the golden age of Chinese women's football.
In 1986 and 1993, she won two Asian championships with the Chinese women's football team, and the runner-up of the 1996 Olympic Games that many Chinese women's football fans will never forget, Shui Qingxia was also an important member of the women's national team at that time.
Shui Qingxia is about to embark on a new journey in her football career.
Shui Qingxia chose to retire at the age of 35, after which she did not hesitate, continued to stay on the court and became a coach, from shanghai women's football assistant coach, to women's football national youth assistant coach, Shanghai youth women's football head coach, Shanghai women's football head coach... In her new position, she is still proving herself step by step with unremitting efforts and learning, just like when she was a player.
At the 2017 National Games, Shui Qingxia led the Shanghai women's football team to win the championship in the adult group. In addition, in domestic competitions such as leagues and championships, she has repeatedly led the team to achieve good results. Among all the retired players of the older generation of Chinese women's football, Shui Qingxia can be said to be the one who has invested the most in the coaching industry and has the greatest achievements.
Due to her rich experience in leading the team and good results, after the defeat of the Chinese women's football team at the Tokyo Olympic Games, Shui Qingxia was naturally regarded as a popular candidate for the future manager of the Chinese women's football team.
This expectation also reached its peak after leading the Olympic united team (the Chinese women's national football team returning from Tokyo) to win the National Games. The women's football final of the National Games was staged between the United team and the Shanghai women's football team, which was originally coached by Shui Qingxia, and this personal "derby" belonging to Shui Qingxia also proved her ability in the coaching position from another angle.
Shui Qingxia led the Olympic team to win the championship at the Shaanxi National Games.
The manager's bid for a farce was ultimately over
During the National Games, Shui Qingxia expressed her determination to take over the responsibility of the Chinese women's football coach in an interview: "Everyone has a dream, and I hope to be the head coach of the women's national team and lead the team to show on the world stage." ”
In the exchange with the surging news reporter, Shui Qingxia also revealed this ideal, "after all, as a coach, you will have this (to coach the national team)" desire." However, just when people were expecting the old women's football star to come to the foreground, the plot took another turn.
On October 8, the Chinese Football Association released an announcement on its official website to compete for the chinese women's football coach, but Shui Qingxia, who had just won the championship at the National Games and passed the "small test", did not register. There is already a saying in the circle: because the Football Association tends to let Zhao Junzhe serve as the next national team manager, Shui Qingxia took the initiative to choose to quit. According to the surging news reporter, such concerns are indeed one of the reasons why Shui Qingxia has no intention of running for election.
For any senior coach who has been in the coaching position for many years, participating in a competition destined to "accompany the run" is undoubtedly a damage to dignity, and Shui Qingxia has temporarily left the candidate list for women's football coaching.
The Shanghai women's football team coached by Shui Qingxia has contributed many internationals.
However, the competition of the Chinese Football Association has made the outside world feel a little "weird". Zhao Junzhe, who has a high "voice" in the upper position, is quite worried by fans because of his lack of experience, although his past experience and conditions meet the requirements set by the Chinese Football Association, after all, he has never had the experience of coaching the women's football team, even if he coaches the men's football team, he only temporarily coached Liaozu for half a year in the 2017 season, and finally failed to relegate.
After that, Zhao Junzhe took more administrative work and did not have more development in the coaching position, so that the "rookie" on the coaching bench was directly put in the position of the national team manager, which was undoubtedly difficult to convince the public.
Another popular candidate, female coach Chen Wanting, has more coaching qualifications, after coaching the Hong Kong Super League team Dongfang to win the Hong Kong Super League championship, becoming the first female coach in the world to lead a men's team to win the top league championship, and in 2019, she successively became the assistant coach and head coach of the U16 women's national team, leading the team to win the third place in the Asian Junior League.
However, it is embarrassing that in the selection notice issued by the Football Association, it is clearly stated that the candidate needs to be Chinese, hold a valid professional-level coach qualification certificate, and have professional or professional player experience. The candidate's past experience must also meet one of the following conditions: 1. He has served as the head coach of the Chinese Football Association U19 and above national brand teams; 2. He has served as the head coach of the Chinese Football Association Women's Football Super League team; 3. He has served as the head coach or assistant coach of the top league team of the Chinese Football Association.
If you use these rules, Chen Wanting should not be eligible to participate in the interview, because she has not been a professional player and does not meet any of the requirements of past experience, but she still entered the interview process of the competition.
Shui Qingxia has devoted many years to the cause of women's football.
The Chinese women's football team needs to start again in a stable environment
In the end, this somewhat awkward competition became a meaningful competition, and the results were delayed after the end of the competition meeting, and finally disappeared for various reasons.
Choosing Shui Qingxia to take over the coaching whip of the Chinese women's football team is not an unexpected result for women's football fans, but this somewhat nonsensical process has added a bit of turmoil.
For Shui Qingxia, this new responsibility is undoubtedly extremely heavy. At the Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese women's football team played the worst performance in the history of the team under the leadership of then head coach Jia Xiuquan, conceding 17 goals in three games in the group stage, 1 draw and 2 losses without a knockout match. Entering the Paris Olympic cycle, this team needs to get out of the shadows of this unexpected blow and regain its spirit.
In late January 2022, the Women's Asian Cup will be held in India, which will be the first international competition of the Chinese women's football team in the new cycle, and there is not much time left for Shui Qingxia to build a new team to run into the lineup.
For the Chinese women's football team, it is not difficult to qualify for the World Cup through the Asian Cup, due to the expansion of the next Women's World Cup to 32 teams, the Asian Cup can get World Cup tickets as long as they get the top 5, and the remaining two best teams can also qualify for the play-offs.
However, the fans' expectations for the team will undoubtedly not only be the top 5, whether they can play the spirit of the team in the game and impact the final qualification will be the first challenge that Shui Qingxia will meet after taking office.
Shui Qingxia's love for football is obvious to all, and her long-term persistence and research on the coaching position have also been proved by time. But in the position of the Chinese women's football coach, the pressure will undoubtedly be multiplied compared to the local team.
Whether you can get enough time and space to build your ideal team, for this women's football star, you also need to use actual performance to win your trust.
After the defeat of Tokyo, Shui Qingxia wanted to lead the Chinese women's football team to set off again.
Looking back on the past, from Ma Liangxing, who coached the Chinese women's football team in 2002, to Jia Xiuquan, who has now become the past, in 19 years, the Chinese women's football team has ushered in the 15th change of coaching position, and the continuous "turmoil" of the coaching position is naturally not a good thing for the long-term construction of a team.
In many changes in the position of the coach, there have also been many "farces", such as pushing the inexperienced Zhang Haitao to the coaching position and encountering the tragedy of losing 0-8 to Germany at the Athens Olympic Games, such as Elizabeth "leaving class" after a conflict with the team leader Zhang Jianqiang. More recently, there is also the "mystery case" of Jia Xiuquan arriving at the Olympic Games but suddenly using many newcomers and failing miserably.
In 19 years, the Chinese women's football team has tried various coaches: "rookie" Tu Shuai, experienced Tu Shuai, male Foreign Shuai, female Yang Shuai... But the only thing that did not give the local female coach a chance. Now in this sense, Shui Qingxia became the first person to eat crabs.
Years of coaching experience, so that Shui Qingxia is very familiar with domestic women's football players, can be seamless docking, but at the same time, a stable development environment, but also an important "resource" that the women's national football team needs at present.
I hope that after this competition storm has passed, the Chinese women's football team can bid farewell to the toss and start again.
Editor-in-Charge: Zhu Yi
Proofreader: Yan Zhang