Source of this article: Time Weekly Author: Jia Jianliang
"Whether it is Tang Jiali and Wang Shanshan's decisive passing, or Xiao Yuyi's stopping and shooting, it all shows the technical level and tacit cooperation of today's Chinese women's football team." These three post-90s, dare to take the ball, dare to fight. ”
On February 8, 2022, in the Wangjing Campus of Shengruisi Football Academy in Beijing, Shang Ruihua, former head coach of The Chinese women's football team, said in an exclusive interview with the Reporter of The Times Weekly.
The time was pulled back to two days before the interview, and the whole country boiled over. On the evening of February 6, 2022, Beijing time, at the D.Y Patil Stadium in New Mumbai, India, the Chinese women's football team defeated the traditional Asian team South Korea 3:2 to win the 20th Women's Asian Cup and obtain the ticket to the 2023 World Cup.
In fact, before the final battle came, Shui Qingxia, who is the current head coach of the Chinese women's football team, already had a certain premonition. When she asked the team members " Fight or not?" War or no war? At that time, the former women's football international felt the hot fire in the eyes of the players. In her opinion, it is a group of brave female warriors who are about to play, not the little princesses after 90.
In an interview with CCTV's "Face to Face" column, Shui Qingxia mentioned that she had used the song "Lone Brave" to motivate the team members. In fact, since the birth of the Chinese women's football team, it has been a lone brave.
In the 1970s, the Chinese women's football team, which was born after several difficult evaluations, also experienced a series of twists and turns. However, the dilemma has not affected the Chinese women's football team to rush out of Asia and go to the world, but has created a "sonorous rose".
In 1986, after only two years of formation, the Chinese women's national football team competed in the 6th Hong Kong Asian Women's Football Championship (the predecessor of the Asian Cup) for the first time and won the championship with a record of not conceding a single goal in all competitions. Subsequently, from 1986 to 1999, the Chinese women's football team set an unbeaten record of "7 consecutive championships" in the Asian Cup.
At that time, accompanied by the jubilation of the Chinese people, it was also a popular song "Wind and Rain Rainbow Sonorous Rose", which became the most appropriate description of the women's football team of that year: "No matter how much sorrow and more pain to carry their own backs, across the world laughing and proud of the world will never retreat." ”
From Shui Qingxia, Sun Wen, Liu Ailing, Wen Lirong, Zhao Lihong, to today's Wang Shuang, Tang Jiali, Wang Shanshan, Xiao Yuyi, Zhu Yu, in the eyes of the public, the Chinese women's football team is also with the spirit of indomitable and dare to fight, interpreting legend after legend, just like the Chinese women's volleyball team, which makes the Chinese people excited.
Since defeating host Australia in 2005 to win the Asian Cup, the Chinese women's football team has been silent for 16 years. Does the re-entry of the AFC Champions League indicate that the sonorous rose has returned to the peak?
"Your Mottle is different"
In Shang Ruihua's memory, in the sixth National Games in 1987, the women's football project was included in the official project for the first time, which also provided a very good soil for the rapid development of Chinese women's football.
In fact, at that time, Guangdong Province was the only region in the country with two women's football teams, namely the Guangdong Guangzhou Women's Football Team and the Guangdong Meizhou Women's Football Team. Guangdong women's football team has sent a large number of outstanding talents to the national team, including goalkeeper Gao Hong and forward Zhao Lihong, who performed well in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and the 1999 World Cup, Wu Weiying, the first generation of Chinese women's football celebrities known as "little loach" and "fast horse", gao Hong, goalkeeper Gao Hong, who had a good performance in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and the 1999 World Cup, and zhao Lihong, a former defender. And Wei Haiying, who scored two goals in the semi-finals of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, beat the Brazilian women's football team and many other women's football players.
Originally, there were only 9 regions with women's football teams, in addition to Guangdong, there were Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Liaoning, Yunnan, Datong, Changchun, Yanbian and other places. Shang Ruihua began training the Beijing women's football team in 1982.
Throughout the history of women's football development, it must be said that it is bumpy and brilliant. In the early 1870s, women's football was officially recognized by the International Football Federation, when economically developed areas such as Hong Kong and Taiwan began to develop women's football. Influenced by the "Mulan Team" in Taiwan, at the end of the 1970s, many middle school girls in Chinese mainland also began to have the idea of playing football.
Shang Ruihua told the Times Weekly reporter, "At that time, some people in the domestic sports industry had a deep prejudice against women's playing football and were not in favor of developing women's football. It was not until a female middle school student who liked football wrote a joint letter to the senior leaders that the relevant departments organized experts and doctors to discuss. ”
After a series of arguments, the Beijing Junior High School Girls' Football Tournament finally opened in February 1981. Subsequently, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Liaoning and other places began to train their own women's football teams. In 1983, the domestic women's football sport was in full swing, and the first National Women's Football Championship was officially opened, which was also the only national women's football competition at that time.
With the maturity of the various institutional developments of women's football in China, FIFA and the AFC approved the holding of the International Women's Football Invitational Tournament in China. In November 1983, the Guangzhou International Women's Football Invitational Tournament was officially held, and Thailand, Japan and Singapore all sent teams to participate. In the end, the Liaoning team defeated the Guangdong team 4:0 to win the championship, and the Guangdong team and the Japanese team won the second and third place respectively.
In 1984, China established the first women's national training team, and the golden age of Chinese women's football slowly began. During the "7 consecutive championships" period of the Asian Cup, the influence of Chinese women's football team was not limited to Asia.
At the first Women's World Cup held in Guangzhou in 1991, the Chinese women's football team competed with 11 teams from the United States, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Chinese Taipei, Brazil, Nigernia, New Zealand, Japan and other places, and finally ranked fifth.
In addition to dominating Asia, the Chinese women's football team has also won the respect of fans around the world. For the technology and strength of the Chinese women's football team on the field, FIFA praised the speed and accuracy of its play with "playing chess on the carpet".
"Your silence is deafening"
In fact, globally, women's football is far less visible than men's football, and its commercial value has not been developed.
According to FIFA's FIFA Benchmark Report: Women's Football, released in May 2021, only 5% of respondents believe that women's football is attractive for investment, and nearly 30% of people still feel that football is "a sport that challenges women" and "is not a women's sport in the traditional sense".
In the world, everyone's attention to women's football is generally not high; in China, the development of women's football is even more silent and lonely.
In 2015, the broadcast fee of the Chinese Super League game sold to 8 billion yuan in 5 years, but the women's football club was the norm because of the small number of people watching and the low degree of attention, and no company was willing to name it.
The sponsors of Chinese women's football are still few and far. At present, the sponsors are mainly "China's team partners", including Nike, Mengniu, Ping An of China, Yibao, China Exemption and other 9 companies, but the "China team partners" for the FOOTBALL Association's sponsorship includes seven teams, and the Chinese women's football team can not get much share.
However, with the victory of the 2022 Women's Asian Cup, the commercial value of Chinese women's football has been enhanced. Recently, according to 36Kr, in the latest business manual of the Chinese women's football team from 2022 to 2023, the sponsorship fee has soared.
On the other hand, the dilemma faced by the Chinese women's football team itself cannot be ignored.
One is the difficulty of selecting talents. Taking Beijing as an example, the women's football team in the 1980s was only 19 people, unlike now, not only the national team, but also clubs, youth training camps, children's football and many other reserve forces.
At that time, Shang Ruihua struggled to find excellent talents. In April 1985, the National Women's Football Championship was held in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, and 18-year-old football player Liu Ailing was still in the Shiyan Second Automobile Sports Varsity Team, and was looked at by Shang Ruihua, who was then the head coach of the Beijing Women's Football Team. Later, Shang Ruihua went to Hubei three times to persuade his family, and waited for the local football team to "release people", which lasted half a year to finally bring back this "jade". Later, Liu Ailing also became the "central brain", leading the Chinese women's football team to sweep through Asia.
At this time, Shui Qingxia had been training in the Shanghai team for a year and had become the absolute main force of the Shanghai team. Subsequently, in 1986, Shui Qingxia was also selected by Shang Ruihua to join the national team.
But to this day, women's football still does not have a strong mass base. Neither the peak of women's football in the 90s nor the current re-victory have not aroused public enthusiasm for women's football. A relevant person from Shengruisi Football Academy told the Times Weekly reporter that no more parents sent girls to sign up, especially in large cities.
Shang Ruihua also recalled that when he was transferred to coach women's football, even he was surprised, after all, the Chinese people at that time were still in the consciousness of "playing football girls are not serious".
The second is that women's football has not developed steadily. In the past 20 years, the Chinese women's football team has changed 15 head coaches alone. In 2022, two months after Shui Qingxia took over the coaching baton, the Chinese women's football team once again lifted the women's Asian Cup championship trophy after 16 years. In Shang Ruihua's view, this is enough to prove that Shui Qingxia has shown the ability of a national team coach to direct the game.
In the face of many difficulties and market prejudices, women's football girls did not complain and complain, but responded to everything with silence and still worked hard.
"You will make your city-state"
There is no eternal king in the world, and the transcendent is always a successor.
The Chinese women's football team in the 90s has achieved remarkable results that are still unmatched. The AFC once praised the Chinese women's football team - they are unmatched in Asia, in the World Cup final only because of penalties unfortunately did not reach the top, no team can be like the Chinese women's football team in the 90s, far ahead of other teams in Asia.
From 1990 to 1999, the Chinese women's football team did not lose a single match in all competitions in Asia. They have won 5 Asian Championships, 3 Asian Games and 2 runners-up in the Women's World Cup and Olympic Games. They have changed the way the world views Asian women's football and promoted the development of women's football in Asia.
The 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta officially included women's soccer for the first time in the schedule. In this "Olympic debut", the Chinese women's football team has defeated the teams of Sweden, Denmark and Brazil to reach the finals. In 1999, the 3rd World Cup was held, and in the semi-finals, the Chinese women's team defeated Norway 5:0, creating the largest point difference in the semi-finals of the Women's World Cup in history.
At that time, the Chinese women's football team was full of talents, with forward Sun Wen, zhao Lihong on the left side, Liu Ailing in midfield, Wen Lirong, partner of defensive Yunjie, and gao Hong, goalkeeper, forming the "golden lineup" of Chinese women's football in the 90s. Subsequently, in the 1997 Asian Cup and the 1998 Asian Games, a new generation of women's football players such as Jin Yan, Bai Jie and Pu Wei began to emerge.
Shang Ruihua told the Times Weekly reporter, "At that time, the Chinese women's football team, whether it was technical and tactical playing style, or age structure, was in the best condition. ”
It can be said that the Chinese women's football team reached the peak of strength and status in 1999.
However, after the peak, the "sonorous rose" ended gorgeously in regret. In 1999, the final between China and the United States in the third Women's World Cup was extremely difficult. In the end, the Chinese women's football team lost to the United States in the penalty stage and left the field, missing the championship trophy that was close at hand. The current head coach of women's football, Shui Qingxia, was also in the final at that time.
After that, the Chinese women's football team began a period of silence. In the face of the subsequent frequent changes of coaches and the lack of players, the Chinese women's football team not only did not embark on a stable road, but also lost its inherent technical flow and distinct tactical style.
Shang Ruihua told the Times Weekly reporter, "Because the Chinese has a flexible mind but a relatively thin body, the Chinese women's football team should insist on playing through perfect playing style and organizational cooperation, which puts forward high requirements for the on-site command of coaches." ”
For Shui Qingxia's performance in the final of the Women's Asian Cup, the AFC official made this evaluation: "She has lifted the Asian Cup five times in 11 years, is the first golden generation player to serve as the head coach of the national team, and she knows better than anyone how to win the Women's Asian Cup." ”
Facts have proved that the "technology flow" is still the path for women's football to dominate. However, whether it can be fixed is a major problem facing women's football. Compared with the "golden lineup" of the 90s, today's women's football team has also won the second peak. But will this peak be short-lived? Shui Qingxia admitted in an interview with the media, "Compared with the Chinese women's football team and the Japanese women's football team, there is still a big gap in passing and receiving the ball. However, compared with the South Korean women's football team and the North Korean women's football team, there are also some advantages in the body, including dexterity and speed. ”
Some insiders also pointed out that the current Chinese women's football team still needs to be improved in confrontation and confrontation ability, "It can be chased back after losing two goals with South Korea and Japan, but it is difficult to fight with strong teams in Europe and the United States." ”
In addition, the Chinese women's football team is still facing problems such as the overall age and the lack of reserve team members. For the view that there is no successor to the Chinese women's football team, Shui Qingxia said in an interview with CCTV: The selection of materials for the Chinese women's national football team is also difficult and not difficult, because the women's football personnel of each team are still relatively small, and (each team) can reach 40 to 50 people. The Japanese women's football team (each team) has at least two or three hundred people to select.
In 2023, the ninth Women's World Cup will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand from 20 July to 20 August. At that time, the Chinese women's football team will not only face the South Korean women's football team, the Japanese women's football team and other Asian strong teams again, but also compete fiercely with the American women's football team that has won the World Cup four times, the European strong representative Swedish women's football team, and the powerful German women's football team and the French women's football team.
In the face of many strong teams in the world, the Chinese women's football team still needs to improve its football skills, physical fitness and teamwork. In Shang Ruihua's view, "being able to win the championship under such difficult conditions this time shows the spirit of indomitable and never giving up of the Chinese women's football team, which is especially important in the world championships in the future." ”
Today, the Chinese women's football team is struggling to move forward and strive to return to the peak of the world belonging to the "sonorous rose".
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