"We are champions!"
Just this past night, the domestic Internet platform, from the official media down to the fan social media, was overwhelmingly swept by the women's football team, for the simple reason that the Chinese women's football team won the women's Asian Cup for the first time in 16 years.
Chinese football has once again lifted the trophy of an important event after 16 years, and there is no reason why such a night should not be remembered, not to mention, the journey of women's football girls along the way can be called an inspirational epic.
In addition to the group stage lightly taking Chinese Taipei and Iran, every step of the Chinese women's football team has encountered twists and turns.
The quarter-finals began with a mistake and was led by Vietnam to score a goal, relying on the strength of far better than the opponent, and finally completed the reversal 3-1.
In the semi-finals against Japan, which had not been defeated for six years, the whole game was passive, falling behind twice in regular time and extra time, and equalized twice with only two shots on target, and changed his life in the penalty shootout.
After falling behind South Korea 0-2 at the end of the final half, Shui Qingxia guided a desperate bet, and finally let the Chinese witness a super reversal that made two chases three.
In every game, the women's football girls have played the most flowing way to win, but the hardships behind them are only known to themselves, no victory is natural, only the spirit of fighting has not died.
On the night of the elimination of Japan, the whole country has already brushed the screen for the Chinese women's football team, facing the former World Cup champion, the strongest team in Asia, and even the official media have "no courage" to broadcast, the media hype pessimism, but the sonorous rose is to turn the impossible into a miracle.
The way to defeat South Korea is even more exhausting, in the moment when everyone is looking forward to the championship, no one will think of the opening of the half two goals behind, and Tang Jiali's point shot blows the horn of the counterattack, Zhang Linyan's goal shows China's strength, the plot of the stoppage stage is like a roller coaster, Zhu Yu first rejected the opponent's kill, and then Xiao Yuyi completed the kill...
Big ups and downs, always can mobilize people's emotions, so on this night when the women's football team won the Asian Cup for the ninth time, the whole of China brushed the screen with sonorous roses.
In fact, there were about three kinds of people who cheered for the women's football girls last night, one sincerely proud of the women's football team, one with anger on the men's football team, and the other relatively calm in the joy, because a champion obscures many realities.
As a football writer, I am probably in the third category of people mentioned above, and have written a lot of cautious and pessimistic about the future of women's football in the past few years, for the simple reason that attention is limited, talent base and market constraints.
The understanding of Chinese women's football by many melon-eating masses is still stuck in the first batch of sonorous roses blooming in the 90s, but a cruel fact is that with the overall development of the world women's football movement, the Chinese women's football team, which gradually consumes the first-mover advantage, has long been reduced to the world's second-rate.
As early as 2004, the Chinese women's football team had lost 0-8 to Germany, and last year's Olympic Games had defeated Brazil and the Netherlands, which made people see how fast the progress of European and American women's football was.
This backwardness is inevitable, according to the development white paper, there are 1 million women's football workers in England, and in China, this number is only about one percent.
The talent reserve base determines the superstructure, not to mention that the influence of women's football and men's football is indeed not the same, no matter how to demean the national football team, the capital operation ability of men's football in the market economy is far stronger than that of women's football.
If it were not for this Women's Asian Cup, obviously not many people would pay attention to our sonorous roses, not to mention the women's football league that has long been dispensable in people's sights.
Therefore, the author constantly emphasizes that Asian women's football and world women's football belong to two completely different levels, even at the Asian level, Chinese women's football is no longer the strongest one, and the Chinese people should not stop the concept 20 years ago.
However, the story of the Women's Asian Cup also tells us that competitive sports should not only stick to paper strength, and the reason why Chinese fans applaud women's football is because of the spiritual level.
Do not abandon, do not give up, perseverance, do not fear strong enemies, fight hard and forge ahead, and live to the death. Such a Chinese women's football team is the most praiseworthy hero in addition to the championship and victory.
This year's Women's Asian Cup is easily reminiscent of that tournament 16 years ago, when the Chinese women's football semi-final relied on Ma Xiaoxu's goal to defeat North Korea 1-0, which had not been defeated for 5 years, and then fell behind the host Australia 0-2 in the final, and unbelievably desperate counterattack, relying on penalties to laugh to the end.
Compared with the last time it won the championship, the bloom of the sonorous rose in this Asian Cup is more difficult, this is a team that has suffered a crushing defeat in the Olympic Games, this is a team that has been constantly in the selection of coaches, it seems to be constantly trial and error, and this is still a team that is not optimistic and is regarded as "winning the World Cup qualification is victory".
But it is they who make the impossible possible time and time again, interpreting the charm of competitive sports.
What Chinese football needs is not necessarily an invincible division, but it must be able to play the style of Chinese, at this point, the women's football girls have done the ultimate, in the darkest moment of Chinese football, they stand out.
Compared with a certain national team that puts up a "less loss and win" as soon as it comes on the court, the Chinese women's football team, which never gives up, is obviously more worthy of the pride of the Chinese people.
Perhaps, the spirit of women's football will be different in external performance at different times, and the core has always inspired the Chinese people, which may not be linked to strength, but it is full of traces of inheritance.
"The flower of success / People only envy her current brilliance!" However, her buds were soaked with the fountain of tears of struggle/ sprinkled with the blood rain of sacrifice. "The scarf never let the eyebrows be raised, and above the ruins, who said that the roses that bloom proudly could not bloom?"
I hope that after this night that has gone down in history, the Chinese people can give more understanding and attention to the Chinese women's football team, and truly let the women's football movement have soil in the land of China. The sonorous rose that brings us to tears should not only have a short-lived bloom.