At 6 o'clock tonight, the Chinese women's football team will usher in the first match of the group stage of the 2022 Indian Women's Asian Cup against Chinese Taipei. This is Shui Qingxia's first official match after taking charge of the Chinese women's football team, and she hopes that the whole team can show a new look and strive to return to the top of Asia. Under the influence of the epidemic, in addition to the competition, another major task of the Chinese women's football team is epidemic prevention, and it is necessary to strive for health and safety to complete the task.
Pictured: Chinese women's football team march poster
Preparation: "Closed Loop" in and out
On January 15, the Chinese women's football team departed from Shanghai by charter flight and successfully arrived in Mumbai, India, the venue of the competition, to officially open the asian cup tour. In view of the current severe epidemic situation in India, the Chinese women's football team has done a lot of work in advance, contacting the local organizing committee before departure, requesting that when staying at the hotel, all members must be in the same area, and each member of the Chinese women's football delegation is accommodated in a separate room. In the end, the organizing committee arranged for the Chinese women's football team to stay in the three independent floors of the designated hotel, and there were exclusive passages in and out, and the whole team traveled according to the "bubble epidemic prevention closed loop" specifications - last year, the Chinese women's football team went overseas many times to fight, and was no stranger to the "bubble" epidemic prevention management of various events. In addition, on this trip to India, the Chinese women's football team also carried a large number of epidemic prevention supplies, all in accordance with the previous epidemic prevention method of the Chinese men's football team in the World Preliminary Round.
Pictured: The Chinese women's football team went out to the big list
In the early morning of the 18th, Tang Jiali, who played for the Tottenham Hotspur women's football team in the Premier League, arrived in India and met with the Chinese women's football team, so far, all 23 women's football internationals who competed in the Asian Cup had arrived. However, in the process of going to India, Tang Jiali also had a false alarm: The Japanese women's football international Iwabuchi Jina, who also played in the Premier League, tested positive for nucleic acid after arriving in India, and Tang Jiali not only took the same flight with her, the two also took a group photo at the airport. However, just yesterday morning, the Chinese women's football official announced the good news: Tang Jiali has passed the nucleic acid test, has been allowed to meet with the women's football team, and took a makeup photo of the Asian Cup.
The Women's Asian Cup has not yet opened, and already teams have been affected by the epidemic. The Vietnamese women's football team previously went to Spain for intensive training, and 11 people were confirmed positive, including 9 players. Arriving in India, the Vietnamese women's soccer team, the nucleic acid test results showed that 1 player was positive and is currently undergoing isolation treatment, although the team and the Chinese women's soccer team are not in the same group, but this incident also sounded the alarm for this women's asian cup.
Pictured: Group photo of The Chinese women's football team
Goal: Hope to win the championship
At the pre-match press conference, Shui Qingxia talked about her expectations for this Asian Cup: she hopes that the Chinese women's football team can come to the end and win the championship. "As a coach, I am very excited to play in the Asian Cup for the first time and my goal is to eventually lead the team to the championship. Of course, the hot weather will bring severe tests to the team, and as a manager, I will show my fast, reasonable and victorious coaching philosophy as much as possible, hoping to get the desired result in a quick offensive and defensive transition. She also said that the Chinese women's football team can show a new and different style, hoping that the players will play their own level in the game and overcome different difficulties in the face of different opponents, "I hope that the whole team can be more united, fully believe in themselves, fight for the same goal, and go further together." ”
Pictured: Shui Qingxia (right) and Wang Shanshan at a pre-match press conference
Wang Shanshan, the captain of the Chinese women's football team who participated in the press conference, said that this Asian Cup will face the strongest team in Asia, which is a good exercise opportunity for the Chinese women's football team, but no matter which opponent they face, they must do their own well, overcome difficulties and play well. "This time the new team of women's football is composed of three generations of old, middle and young people, and I hope that everyone can play their own spirit in the game and show the style of Chinese women's football to Asia and the world."
As the former hegemon of Asian football, the Chinese women's football team has won the Asian Cup eight times, once achieving seven consecutive championships, and is the team that has won the most championships, but the last time it won the championship was in 2006. In this Asian Cup, the biggest competitors of the Chinese women's football team are undoubtedly the Japanese women's football team and the Australian women's football team, and the Chinese team needs to strive for the point advantage in the group stage, so as to obtain a relatively ideal matching situation in the knockout stage in order to launch an impact on the final champion.
Pictured: The first match of the Chinese women's football team against the Chinese Taipei women's football team
According to the schedule, the opponents of the three group matches of the Chinese women's football team are the Chinese Taipei women's football team, the Iranian women's football team and the host India women's football team. Shui Qingxia said that the team will not despise any opponent: "Each team has a different technical and tactical style of play, three games are very challenging, we will be fully prepared and pay attention to each opponent." (Xinmin Evening News reporter Li Yuanchun)