This article was first published in the boutique shopping guide and reprinted with permission from Krypton
Since the day she became a goalkeeper, "Loneliness" has accompanied Zhao Lina, looking at the back of her teammates, and also facing the threat of opponents, firmly holding the position of the goal line, until the moment when the whistle blows at the end of the game, which is the value embodiment of her "goalkeeper spirit".
After winning the Asian Cup, Zhao Lina unexpectedly became busy. Her life was filled with a flood of work, and in this interview, she also dumbed her voice, took out the momentum of high resistance on the field, and calmly responded to the questions thrown over. She describes this busyness as "everything going in a good direction."
Obviously, the afterglow of realizing her dream of winning the championship still makes her excited: "I don't dare to look forward to winning the Asian Cup." I never thought I'd experience it before I retired, never thought about it."
For goalkeepers, "calm" is a luxury. From the age of 7 into the green field, the square inches of the goal have been interlaced with the tragic comedy of life. She is sometimes the savior, sometimes the background board. Football is the entertainment of others, and for her, it is the medium for experiencing life.
01
Green Tragicomedy
Zhao Lina has been a playful personality since she was a child. Sent by her parents to learn piano, she found herself unable to sit still; when she went to the ballet classroom, where someone else pulled on the ligament, she gave up in less than ten minutes. "I really can't understand, I just don't think it's funny."
So when the football coach came to choose people, even if Zhao Lina in the first grade of primary school had not yet figured out what football was, just by being able to play with her friends outside, she thought in her heart that this was what she wanted to do.
Fate begins to reveal its mysterious side, filling in the correct answers to the exam paper before life has even unfolded. After joining the football team, life is indeed as Zhao Lina expected, it is all "play".
"Every afternoon after two lessons, you can go to the stadium. Kicking is playing, running is playing, rolling forward on the mat is also playing, playing on the grass on rainy days, putting the ball, tackling, fighting, for me is all play. I seem to have found the true meaning of life, and I am very happy!"
The team training needs to live in the school, many children of the same age can not stand to be separated from their parents for a long time, and finally leave the team to go home, and Zhao Lina is still happy. People have been trying to find the mechanism behind "success", and perhaps "happiness" is the driving force behind everything.
Now, more than twenty years later, this most primitive joy about football can still be found in Zhao Lina. However, the gifts of football are constantly dancing between tragicomedy and comedy, and other aspects of life are also unfolding on the pitch.
The trip to the 2016 Olympic Games was an unforgettable experience for Zhao Lina. The Chinese women's football team returned to the Olympic main competition after 8 years, and Zhao Lina officially became the No. 1 goalkeeper of the Chinese women's football team. The national team game has high attention and heavy tasks, and Zhao Lina is participating in major events as the main goalkeeper for the first time, and the pressure can be imagined.
As the schedule progressed, finally, after playing the first two games in the final stage of the Olympic Games, Zhao Lina completely broke down emotionally, and a person cried in the lounge, "The emotions at that time were real, that is, I felt that the mental pressure was particularly great, and I was constantly fighting myself."
In fact, the women's football girls on that Olympic journey defeated South Africa 2:0 in the second group game, and in the third game, they forced the Women's Football Team to draw 0:0 with sweden, the long-standing team in the women's football field, and advanced to the quarterfinals, which is exciting enough for fans. Looking back on the past, Zhao Lina is not afraid to share her vulnerabilities and struggles, because she believes that this is the life situation that football has.
02
Not ordinary
In Zhao Lina's heart, she is an ordinary Shanghainese, who loves beauty, loves embroidery cross stitch, and can also knit scarves. "Maybe a lot of people think I'm a boy, but I'm actually a girl." But her height of 188cm makes her have to experience some moments that are not "ordinary girls": going to the women's toilet during the short hair period is stopped, shopping is called "uncle" by children...
For Zhao Lina, who has "deviated" from the traditional concept of expectations for women since childhood and chose to become a far-reaching mobilization of football, the stereotypes about gender in life are played out all the time. In the more than twenty years on the green field, her gender concept has been invisibly shaped by this sport. In her eyes gender has nothing to do with career, women can play football and can do whatever they want. She believes that football can present different charms for women.
"When you look at the girls playing on the pitch, you can feel that they are 'handsome'. This movement is to show the 'wolf' side of the girl's personality, which is not only for boys. Football is for girls because it inspires more potential for women."
Because of the superior appearance conditions, there have also been modeling companies that have issued invitations to Zhao Lina. But she is addicted to her "happy football" and has no time to take care of anything else. On the contrary, it is only after becoming a top athlete that I have more opportunities to work as models. "Players and models show beauty in different ways. Players may have a greater sense of power, and use their sunshine and hard work more on the court to show their confident side. But the model is a kind of work that looks at the camera and shows beauty in that more artistic way. In fact, it is all a way of expressing beauty."
Now that Zhao Lina has become more confident in front of the camera, she has begun to understand what style she is suitable for, and she will "find angles" when shooting. Before the interview, Zhao Lina was selecting the photos taken this time, and the "ordinary girl" side of the conversation and laughter revealed, "I think it's still very good-looking ha!"
03
The last line of defense
The goalkeeper is the last barrier of the defense, and people always expect a miracle to turn the tide between the square inches of the goal. Goalkeepers are under intense pressure at all times due to the peculiarities of their position, and even Peter Handke, one of the most influential writers in contemporary German language, has written a novel titled "The Anxiety of Goalkeepers When Faced with Penalties.".
What makes Zhao Lina difficult to let go is a goal from the Japanese women's football team.
In the women's final of the 2018 Asian Games, China played against Japan. Japan is a traditional strong team in Asia, repeatedly winning the top spot in the World Cup, Asian Cup, Asian Games and other events; at that time, the Chinese women's football team was far away from the first echelon and was in the dilemma of "no crown" for twelve years. This game is not only a battle of victory and defeat, but also a battle of honor.
The score of the two sides was 0:0 throughout the game, until it was almost 90 minutes later, a killer goal from the Japanese team shattered the Chinese team's dream of rushing to the championship. "You know, slaying is a very crushing thing for an athlete." In the end, the Chinese women's football team was the runner-up, and to this day, Zhao Lina is still angry about this killer.
In Zhao Lina's definition, the goalkeeper must have a strong mental attribute: not afraid of any shot and attack of the opponent. When facing opponents, you are fierce and inviolable; when facing your teammates, you can make them feel that you are indestructible, so that they can give your back to you. She is a natural "big heart" who doesn't like to drill the horns; she simply goes to sleep or fights in the face of emotions that can't be discharged.
Now back on top of Asia, all of Zhao Lina's nightmares seem to be relieved. When the women's football team won the Asian Cup in 2006, she was just a young player who wanted to play; today, she is already a member of the "Sonorous Rose", guarding the national goal on the field.
Zhao Lina feels that the use of "rose" to describe women's football is just right: both have a soft side and sharp thorns on the field, which is "sonorous". She has always hoped that the Chinese women's football team can become a spiritual force like the Chinese women's volleyball team. In fact, our women's football team has been away from the first echelon for too long, and this championship is not easy to come by."
Zhao Lina always feels that what women's football needs most is "attention". After winning the championship, she was busy with videos, interviews, and podcasts, and also hoped that the heat would not dissipate too quickly. She shouted to the fans: don't call "wife" on the Internet, please come and watch the game offline.
Maybe one day, "TA come to see my football game" can really become the new fashion.
Chief Planner & Producer: Gui Jinghong
Photography: Wu Ming
Editor & Styling: Zhang Jiahan Grande
Makeup: Jackie
Hairstyle: Shoko
Artist coordinator: Wang Jun
Text Coordinator: Lei Lei
Interview & Written by: Ou Ji
Art: Joe
New Media Editor: Li Jing
Video Director: Wang Shuang
Video: Sun Hong
Clip: hazi
Fashion Assistant: Tanhua, Starrism
Venue: Shiji Future Sports Park