Sunlight shines the turf. At the New Mumbai Patil Stadium in India, Yao Wei, wearing the No. 8 shirt, ran the football field.
In the 2022 Women's Asian Cup, Yao Weisi, a midfielder, is a left-back who participates in the left side defense and assists the left side attack. This is her first time in the national team, and it means that it is not the position she is best at.
In the semi-finals of the 2022 Women's Asian Cup, Yao Wei, wearing the No. 8 shirt, took a group photo with his teammates. Courtesy of respondents
The data remembers her performance. According to statistics, in this women's Asian Cup, Yao Wei made all 5 appearances and contributed 15 steals, ranking first among all the participating players with Vietnamese player Chen Shi Fangcao; the key battle of the semi-final and final two reversal wins, Yao Wei played the whole game, and was one of the players with the longest cumulative playing time in the team.
Even so, among the bright women's football players, she is still not the brightest one.
Strikers who contribute to the killer, goalkeepers who make great saves... In this game, people were impressed by many players, and Yao Wei, who was mainly defensive, was rarely mentioned. But people familiar with her know that Yao Wei on the court is calm and reliable, and when the score is behind, he can always clap his hands and encourage everyone.
After winning the 2022 Women's Asian Cup, Yao Wei took a group photo with the championship trophy. Courtesy of respondents
From her brother's "sparring" all the way to the "international footballer", this 24-year-old girl who stubbornly never accepts defeat has a calm that transcends her age. She said, "The road is step by step. It is enough to face every day of training, learning and competition. ”
A girl who plays football with boys
Running quickly, full of physical strength, strong comprehension, in the eyes of the enlightenment coach Xiong Sidi, Yao Wei is the first girl he has seen from teaching for more than 10 years, "the first girl suitable for playing football." ”
At first, Yao Wei was just a small spectator on the varsity football team. In the first and second grades of elementary school, every day after school, she stayed on the side of the court, waiting for her twin brother Yao Daogang to come home after training. During a training session, the ball rolled out of the field, and Yao Wei, who was staying on the sidelines, got up and chased. "This girl is fast and flexible." The fourth brother of xiong noticed her.
As a child, Yao Wei (first from left) and twin brother Yao Daogang (first from right) grew up to become professional footballers. Courtesy of respondents
At that time, the Xinhecun Primary School in Qiaokou District, Wuhan, where the sisters and brothers attended, already had a relatively mature school football training model, but until 2004, when they entered school, there was still no women's football team. Even the fourth brother of Xiong felt in his heart that playing football was a boy's business, "People are tanned and not slippery, and they are sweaty and injured every day." ”
The appearance of Yao Wei has changed the views of the fourth brother Xiong. "Can you play with us?" The fourth brother Xiong issued an invitation, but was rejected.
At that time, Yao Wei had no concept of football. My father often watched ball games, and he followed them; if his academic performance was good, he went to participate in Chinese and mathematics training; he liked the feeling of running and went to run athletics. She never thought about playing football, "and there were no girls playing football at that time. ”
More than half a year later, Yao Wei is still sitting on the sidelines. In a game after training, the team was still one person behind, and the fourth brother Xiong found Yao Wei again: "Are you okay with helping me guard a goal?" When the ball comes, you can dodge, but you can kick it with your feet and push it with your hands. ”
Playing football with his brother, Yao Wei found it quite interesting, even if the stadium was still only concrete, but it was "fun" than the lone athletics. Since then, as long as the team training is short of people, the fourth brother of the bear will ask Yao Wei to play; the team practices, Yao Wei is also playing next to him; sometimes Yao Wei does not get the ball, and will take the initiative to find the fourth brother of the bear: "Teacher, I don't have the ball." ”
Yao Wei and younger brother Yao Daogang in elementary school. Courtesy of respondents
At that time, every time they learned a new move, the two of them practiced on their own after they returned home, the younger brother attacked, the sister defended, and the desire to win or lose was aroused. Yao Wei's mother, Ma Xiufang, often complained to The Fourth Brother Xiong: "As soon as the child returns, he kicks the ball, swings the door with a pot and a pot, and smashes the ball up." ”
The "additional training" of the sisters and brothers greatly inspired the fourth brother Xiong, "If you want to defeat the opponent, you must use more time." Since the third grade of primary school, Yao Wei and his brother's football training classes have become rain or shine, and the winter vacation can only rest for a few days in the New Year. ”
A fierce polishing begins.
Fourth Brother Xiong still remembers that during a competition, Yao Wei was kicked by a boy, and immediately squatted down to cover his legs, completely ignoring the game. In the face of his harsh criticism, the little girl who was "afraid of pain" seemed to come back, "He kicked me, it hurt." ”
The game doesn't stop, you crouch there and the ball is lost, your legs hurt; get up and run, him, your legs hurt. Over time, the pain will always pass. You crouch there and the ball is lost, so why can't you hold on? The fourth brother of Xiong earnestly guided, "Since we have embarked on this road, we must strive to persist." ”
Soon after, Yao Wei was injured again, and the ankle joint crossed nerve adhesions, and he did not recover well for a month. The fourth brother Xiong heard about a rehabilitation doctor and took Yao Wei and Ma Xiufang to seek medical treatment. The process of rubbing the meridians was very painful, but during the whole treatment process, Yao Wei did not cry at all, and after returning to the stadium, he was not afraid of the ball.
Yao Wei and younger brother Yao Daogang (pictured) in elementary school. Courtesy of respondents
Yao Wei no longer remembered these things. Football brings her more happiness, in contrast, pain is like the light kiss of football, is an inevitable appendage of competitive sports, "falling is not afraid of pain." Sometimes when encountering boys being naughty and "provocative", she will also be like the fourth brother of the bear told her, seeing the other party to win him two balls, let him admire.
"'I must win you', gritting her teeth and not accepting defeat, she has this personality and temperament." The fourth brother xiong recalled to the Beijing News reporter.
In those years, every day after training, it was seven or eight o'clock in the evening, and Yao Wei was lying on the table writing homework, often falling asleep without knowing when. As the only girl on the pitch, Yao Wei was in the spotlight despite her defensive position – she and her brother worked together to win one game after another.
Yao Wei (front row, second from right) in elementary school with his teammates and the fourth brother Xiong, the enlightenment coach. Courtesy of respondents
Younger brother Yao Daogang remembers that when he was a child, they played together, and the team never weakened because there was a girl: "She is the main force, and she plays better than us boys." ”
"People don't talk much "fiercely""
Rather than talent, Yao Wei prefers to classify himself as a "hard-working type" – training almost every day except for the holidays after the game; in order to maintain his state, the daily life scene is from the training ground to the room, two points and one line.
Hard training has become a habit that Yao Wei has retained to this day, and she once wrote in a scholarship application material, "The opportunity is left to those who are prepared." ”
In 2010, in order to prepare for the City Games (the predecessor of the Youth Games) and the National Games, Yao Wei, who studied at the Hubei Provincial Sports School, was transferred to the Wuhan Sports School to team up with players who were one or two years older than her. There, teammate Wei Xuan saw Yao Wei for the first time, "Not much to say, never show off his achievements, smile and bend his eyebrows, not at all ostentatious." But soon Wei Xuan realized that this low-key sister was fighting more than anyone on the court.
After nearly 6 years of fighting side by side, in Wei Xuan's impression, Yao Wei never complained that the training was too tired and the intensity was too high. Sometimes preparing for the big competition, training four times a day, the physical exertion is extremely large, "to the back we will be distracted, but Yao Wei will not." ”
Not only that, as long as the amount of self-feeling training is not enough, Yao Wei will also take the initiative to practice, which makes Wei Xuan admire, "The coach said, she will continue to practice until she is completely absorbed, then her progress must be fast." ”
Yao Wei's home holds the medals and trophies she has won in the competition over the years. Courtesy of respondents
Wei Xuan still remembers a match at the 12th National Games in 2013. At that time, Hubei women's football team played against Jiangsu women's football team, "Before that, don't say that you won the other side, you haven't played a draw." "The duel was unusually sticky, and the scene was once white-hot," Yao Wei finally kicked to the leg cramps, but his heart was always holding back, and finally we actually played a draw with the other party. ”
This stubbornness of never giving up has long been firmly nailed into the bone marrow by football. For example, even if the training is hard, Yao Wei has not left behind in his studies, and has always insisted on training while reading. "We can just do football and not study, but Yao Wei doesn't have that." Wei Xuan sighed.
In 2015, Yao Wei was admitted to the Sports Training Major of jianghan University's School of Physical Education. In the impression of the school counselor Zhou Yuge, Yao Wei was serious and hardworking, "Neither because of the training delay in learning, nor because of the delay in training, sometimes training until the evening, but also insist on completing the learning task." ”
"People don't talk much 'harshly'." In Yao Wei's view, it is natural to do what should be done, no matter how painful the process is. "It's enough to face every day of training, learning and competition."
But Yao Wei always has weaknesses, and whenever this happens, friends and coaches become her dependence. She wrote to her friends on Weibo, "In front of you, I can only be myself, and I don't have to worry about being left behind if I am not good enough." ”
Yao Wei was with his friends. Courtesy of respondents
She was too worried about her mistakes, always set her goals high, and once she did not meet expectations, her confidence would waver. "Every time something goes wrong in a game or training, I first think, is it my own problem? The more you think about it, the more you get caught up in it. ”
The worst one was the 2021 Olympic Women's Football Qualifiers. Yao Wei consciously did not play the state she should have, and her name did not appear in the shortlist that was subsequently announced.
"I cried when I knew the result." Usually, Yao Wei's depressed mood would only last for a day or two, and this time the loss was stretched to two or three months. "I would love to go to the Olympics, it's a rare international competition, and it's a real, very, very sad thing to not be selected."
She trained and competed as usual, but whenever she thought about losing, she always felt lost. It was a friend who helped her out. They spent months with her, chatting together and occasionally talking all night.
Yao Wei also constantly convinces himself to be strong. There was a year when injuries plagued her repeatedly. At first, accompanied by team doctors and interpreters, she recovered in Germany for three or four months, and after returning to China, she resolutely returned to the national team for training. On the turf, her teammates ran freely, spilling sweat on the green field, and she could only watch silently from the side, counting the days of injury recovery over and over again, repeating the boring rehabilitation training until she stood on the court again, reviewed the pass, and engaged in fierce confrontation.
Double-sided Yao team
In September 2015, Yao Wei officially enrolled in Jianghan University. Coinciding with the reorganization of the varsity football team, Because of his "strong ability, high talent and seriousness", Yao Wei was appointed as the captain of the Jianghan University women's football team (hereinafter referred to as "Jiangda Women's Football Team").
This is a team based on the runner-up of the 2015 National Youth Games. Although he once served as a captain in the same age team, in the brand-new Jiangda women's football team, Yao Wei was fledgling and the youngest. "There's going to be pressure, just thinking, just do your best."
Yao Wei running on the court. Courtesy of respondents
Yao Wei attributed her advantage to a sense of responsibility, she told the Beijing News reporter, "Take care of everyone, understand everyone, and at the same time do a good job of yourself and lead other team members, which is the normal duty of the captain." ”
But in Wei Xuan's view, this is a great ability - no matter what, he is full of faith, believes in himself, believes in his teammates, and will never give up. "When it comes to being scored, most people are depressed and may not have the confidence to pull a goal back. But on the pitch, girls' emotions are also easily moved, and when you hear a person say ' it's okay, come again', or see a person still working hard, you will feel the power. ”
At the end of each game, even if it is a training game, Yao Wei will take the initiative to review and analyze the problems of the whole team and himself. Sometimes the state of the team members is not good, the emotions are on the face, and Yao Wei always intimately goes up to comfort them.
Like a sponge, she softly absorbs everyone's emotions. And behind this quiet warmth is a lesson about cherishing that Bei Li taught her.
Yao Wei and Jiang Da's teammates of the women's football team. Source: Yao Wei Weibo
In 2013, when Yao Wei was 16 years old and her father died of illness, she was preparing for the National Games. In order not to affect her daughter, Ma Xiufang always excused your father to be busy prevaricating until the end of the game.
Yao Wei never took the initiative to mention this matter, until now, she still lowered her voice and called it "that thing". In the first few years, friends around him were always careful to avoid this topic, but Yao Wei realized that after the blow, he grew up overnight.
"I used to love to play with my friends and be carefree. After my father died, I had to be independent, learn to make my own choices, and learn to solve problems on my own. I think about my family, I think about the future, and I feel that it is time to take on the burden of the family. Yao Wei matured, she rarely poured out negative emotions to her family, and the most common sentence with her mother Ma Xiufang was, "When you go home, say something happy." ”
Also in that year, the day after the End of the National Games, Yao Wei's team faced disbandment — her sisters, who were a year or two older than her, went on their own journeys, some went to the national team for training, some went to college, and that was one of her favorite groups, spending even more time together than her family.
In 2013, Yao Daogang and Yao Wei accompanied the Hubei Provincial Men's and Women's Football Team to the 13th National Games. Courtesy of respondents
Emotions are always healed by time. Deeply buried regrets and nostalgia in his heart, Yao Wei's football road is still moving forward steadily. After the National Games, she was selected for the national junior women's football team training, as a member of the women's football national junior team, participated in the 2014 U17 Women's World Cup, and since then, as the main player of the same age group of Wuhan Sports School, she has trained hard until she entered the new collective of Jiangda women's football team.
Here, she is the filial daughter who sent flowers to her mother on Mother's Day, the calm sister who can solve her brother's "failure to kick to the best position and do my best", and the naïve child who follows the beat to make a funny short video and will shyly cover her face in front of the camera. She posts her favorite food, travels with friends, and occasionally excitedly takes screenshots and tells friends and family: "Look! Bai Jingting replied to my Weibo! ”
In 2021, Yao Wei on the way. Courtesy of respondents
"When it's time to relax, relax well, and when it's time to be serious, be engrossed." More often, she is still the serious and reliable Yao team on the court.
As a team composed mainly of students, Jiangda Women's Football Team is younger than other teams as a whole, and has slightly less experience in the competition, so it is not easy to stand on the podium. Wei Xuan rarely saw Yao Wei show emotions, and the few fluctuations only appeared in the game, "for example, she was still working hard for the goal, but her teammates had given up." ”
In November 2016, Yao Wei won the Women's League Best Newcomer Award and was selected for the 2016 Women's League One Best Team. After a year of polishing, in October 2017, Yao Wei led Jiangda Women's Football Team to victory over Zhejiang, won the Women's League Championship, and qualified for the Women's Super League in the early round.
Yao Wei on the field. Courtesy of respondents
This road to advancement is not easy. Before the game, Yao Wei and the players all hoped to win and pushed jiangda women's football team in a better direction. "In the second half of the year, other teams will also study our playing style. If that game against Zhejiang fails, it will drag on longer and there will be more changes, so we don't want to put the pressure on the last game. Yao Wei recalled.
Less than 15 minutes into the opening, Yao Wei contributed assists, the team scored two goals, and the girls firmly controlled the ball, and finally fixed the score at 4:0. Under the leadership of Yao Wei, Jiangda Women's Football Team rushed into the national women's football top league for the first time, and it was also the first student army to enter the top league.
On October 1, 2017, Jiangda Women's Football Team won the Women's League A championship and successfully promoted to the Women's Super League. Source: Yao Wei Weibo
Recalling that key battle, Yao Wei, who did not score a goal, said that she did not care whether her performance was amazing, and all the honor came from the strength of the team: "Only if the team performs well, can you achieve you personally." These honors are also earned by relying on the team. ”
At that year's award ceremony, Jiangda women's football team won a total of four awards, and Yao Wei personally won the best athlete award. In 2020 and 2021, Jiangda Women's Football Team won the women's Super League for two consecutive years.
Never give up
On the evening of February 6, 2022, the Chinese women's football team reversed the victory over the South Korean women's football team, and re-entered the "top of Asia" after 16 years. Ma Xiufang's rented house did not have a net, and she and her neighbors gathered in a strong signal place and watched the final with traffic.
"I don't think she's playing well enough. When I was 0:2 behind South Korea, I had to give up watching the game. Ma Xiufang commented on her daughter's performance in the final, but she also knew that her daughter tried her best.
A month before the final, the Chinese women's football team officially announced the 23-man list of the Chinese team in the Asian Cup, and Yao Wei was among them. People are speculating that Yao Wei, who usually plays at the back and center back, should not change much this time. But Yao Wei was eventually placed at left-back and started all five games.
Yao Wei trained for the national team. Courtesy of respondents
Those who knew her well were not worried. Yao Wei is an all-round player, and Jiang Guoqin, deputy dean of the School of Physical Education of Jianghan University, described her as an "all-rounder", "you can play a lot of positions, and you can leave a lot of space for the coach to deploy player positions." This is also Yao Wei's expectation of himself: "If you want to become an excellent athlete, comprehensiveness is the key quality. Being able to play anywhere will give coaches more options in terms of tactical arrangements. ”
"You can see that the coaching staff trusts her." Wei Xuan, who has long since retired from injury, is also paying attention to this duel. In her opinion, Yao Wei's habitual back position needs to take into account the front, back, left and right, and all aspects of the court, which proves that Yao Wei's technical ability does not need to worry. Xiong Sidi is also very confident in the former students, he said, Yao Wei's comprehensive ability can reach 80 points, may not be the most shining player, but at the critical moment, she will always appear, resolve the crisis, create opportunities.
The 2022 Women's Asian Cup won, and Yao Wei and Zhu Yu laughed and celebrated. Source: Yao Wei Weibo
But for Yao Wei, although he feels that he can, although he has played in this position in the club, the temporary deployment is still a test. And the position of left-back is also destined that she will not be particularly bright. In this 90-minute game, Yao Wei's name was rarely mentioned by the commentators, and more often, she ran on the left side of the stadium and passed the ball in a regular manner.
"Because of our own mistakes that resulted in two goals being conceded first, there would be a small psychological blow." Recalling that when he fell behind his opponent 0:2 in the first half, Yao Wei told the Beijing News reporter, "Very unwilling, just like when I was a child playing football with boys, I wanted to win and lose, I wanted to do my best to break this deadlock, and I fought more fiercely than before." There is still time until the end of the race, and until the end, nothing is impossible. ”
"Before the endgame, I know life and death", as he has done along the way, Yao Wei never gives up. The whistle that marked the victory blew, and she ran over and jumped in a circle with her teammates. They patted each other's heads affectionately and threw head coach Shui Qingxia into the air one after another.
After winning the 2022 Women's Asian Cup, Yao Wei and the players laughed and took a group photo. Courtesy of respondents
After the glory, the journey continues. In the isolation hotel, Yao Wei recalled the thrilling moments of the game over and over again, and did a good job of training and review according to the rhythm. In the past few years, repeated injuries and difficult recovery periods have brought her many unexpected obstacles, but she knows the desire for football in her heart, this long-term companionship from her youth to the present, to witness her growth, but also her glory.
On February 27, the isolation of the women's football girl ended, yao Wei returned to her home in Wuhan, spending a rare break with her family, and then she will devote all her energy to the training of the new year.
The future is too far away, and she cares more about the moment – she wants to be like her favorite star, De Bruyne, calm, observant, aggressive and organized. She also wants to win more honors for the club and the national team in the competition. So step by step, steadily into the future.
During the 2022 Women's Asian Cup, Yao Wei was in India. Courtesy of respondents
Beijing News reporter Zuo Lin Liu Yipeng
Edited by Li Binbin Proofreader Zhang Yanjun