0 to 3! The Chinese women's football team defeated the host Spain in an international A match on the Spanish island of Ibiza in the early morning of today (12th) Beijing time, and ended the European trip with a record of 2 wins. Combined with the previous trip to Europe in February, the Chinese women's football team has a total of 2 draws and 2 defeats in the four international A matches against European teams, and it is difficult to win one game. This is obviously not good news for the Chinese women's football girls preparing for the Women's World Cup. Perhaps, for the current Chinese women's football team, forgetting the "World Cup quarterfinals" and going all out to qualify from the group is a more pragmatic goal. And all walks of life in China probably also need to "cool down" the Chinese women's football team in an all-round way!
In four years, from 0-0 to 0-3!
At the Women's World Cup in France four years ago, the Chinese women's football team did their best in the final match of the group stage, drawing 0-0 with the Spanish women's team, thus becoming one of the three best in the four best groups with a score of 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss and 4 points, and was able to qualify and advance to the round of 16. Today, four years later, when the Chinese women's team lost 0-3 to the Spanish women's football team, perhaps this match fully showed the current situation of the rapid development of European women's football from one side, and let domestic fans have a further and deeper feeling of the current world women's football, especially the European women's football. Facing the two European women's football teams Denmark and England in the group stage of the future World Cup, the Chinese women's football team wants to win the battle, and it is definitely not as optimistic as the outside world imagines.
It must be admitted that the Chinese women's football team played away from home in this game, the Spanish women's football team has some advantages in fighting at home, and the Chinese women's football team is currently also plagued by injuries, untidy personnel, unable to play with the strongest team, and so on, various subjective and objective factors superimposed, resulting in the Chinese women's team losing to the Spanish team by a large score. Moreover, from the perspective of warm-up matches, arranging the final result of such a match is not the most important, but the most important thing is to fully expose the problem through warm-up games, scout personnel, and find the ideal combination of personnel and tactics. So, the result of losing doesn't need to be overstated. However, the overall record of two consecutive European training sessions and consecutive warm-ups with European women's football teams is not ideal, which fully proves that the Chinese women's football team is not as strong in hard power as domestic fans think. This is not because the Chinese women's football team has lost consecutive games and deliberately belittled the Chinese women's football team, but I want to say that due to the impact of the epidemic, in just two or three years, the gap between the Chinese women's football team and the European women's football team is actually accelerating, not narrowing!
In 2018, when the Spanish women's junior team won the Women's U17 European Cup, the Women's U17 World Cup, the Women's U19 European Cup, and the Women's U20 World Cup runner-up, almost achieving a Grand Slam, it almost heralded that the Spanish women's senior national team could soon develop. Therefore, when the Chinese women's football team in 2019 can still fight with one of the successful on-field tactics and reap the 1 point that the qualification wants, the Chinese women's football team has indeed achieved its goal. But today, four years later, although more than 10 main players of the current Spanish women's football team refuse to play for the national team because of disagreements with the manager, because there are enough reserve talents, the Spanish women's football team now has the level of attacking the world's top eight or even top four. Spain is the 10th match with China since losing to eventual winner England in the quarter-finals of last year's European Championships, only losing 3-2 to hosts Australia in February, as well as a 1-1 draw with Sweden, and all other matches, including a 2-0 win over the United States. In other words, in terms of overall hard power, the Spanish women's football team has left the Chinese women's football team behind. This is a fact that needs no argument.
From the 1-4 defeat of the Swedish women's team in February to the 0-3 defeat of the Spanish team, to some extent, the Swedish women's football team and the Spanish women's football team are one of the strongest teams in European women's football today, and the strength of the English women's team, the German women's team, the French women's team, the Netherlands women's football team and other strength is in the middle of the country. Like the Italian women's football team, the Danish women's football team, the Norwegian women's football team, the Swiss women's football team, including the Portuguese women's football team and the Irish women's football team that won the right to participate in the women's World Cup for the first time this year, can only be regarded as second-rate teams, and the Chinese women's football team may only be able to barely compete with these European women's footballs, and may not be able to have an advantage. What's more, many other European teams that did not qualify for the World Cup, such as Scotland women's football, Austria women's football, Iceland women's football, etc., may be disdained by domestic women's football players or fans, but the Chinese women's football team may not be sure to win.
Therefore, in the past four years, when the Chinese women's football team has rarely had the opportunity to communicate with the European women's football team, the European women's football team has changed drastically in an instant. This is the grim situation facing the Chinese women's football team today! Therefore, football, including women's football, is not after the last French Women's World Cup entered the round of 16, this year's only to enter the quarterfinals, can prove that Chinese women's football is improving. Indeed, the Chinese women's football team won the Asian Cup women's football championship after 16 years under the condition that it was not optimistic at the beginning of 2022, but when the Chinese women's football team took a step forward, the European women's football team may have advanced two or even three steps, so the overall situation is still widening! Facing the two European teams of England Women's and Denmark in the same group of the World Cup Women's Football Tournament in the future, the Chinese women's football team should probably not think about entering the quarterfinals, but should consider how to advance from the group! This is more realistic, if there is no group promotion, why go to the quarterfinals? It's not a question of having confidence in women's football, it's about having an accurate positioning!
Hard power, with the same problems as men's football
Due to the low level of competition of the Chinese men's football team and the lack of achievements, domestic fans generally disdain the Chinese men's football team, completely isolate the Chinese women's football team from the Chinese men's football team, and even use the Chinese women's football team to "step on" the Chinese men's football team. But in fact, because there are only four or five women's football teams in Asia, especially many men's football teams in West Asia because their countries do not attach great importance to women's football, so the Chinese women's football team does not need to face the impact of West Asian opponents like the men's team, which makes the Chinese women's football team face more challenges from East Asian opponents.
However, on the other hand, over the years, when the rapid rise of European women's football relies on the power of European men's football, including the same football philosophy and technical and tactical guidance, borrowing the training methods and methods of men's football, and even providing men's training facilities directly to women's football teams, etc., so that the European women's football team has an accelerated development. Similarly, several Asian women's football teams such as Japan, South Korea, and Australia have actually developed rapidly with the help of the development of men's football. Only the Chinese women's football team has been maintaining, and it is even difficult to break through the "old problems" and "old problems" of the Chinese men's football team in terms of technique and tactics.
Take, for example, the goal of the Spanish women's team against the Chinese women's team near the end of the first half. The key to this goal was Spain's No. 10 Jeanne Hermoso dribbling, pulling and passing on the right side, again in a one-on-four situation. Chinese players implement front, back, and left against opposing players. There was nothing wrong with the right clip and formed a four-man encirclement, but it still could not block the opponent's passing line. This scene can often be seen in men's football matches, and it just reflects the common problems in Chinese football defense, and simple human sea tactics are not the most effective way to defend.
For example, the Chinese women's football team used the strategy of defending and counterattacking in this game, but blindly chose to retreat when defending, rather than standing first and then going up. In the entire defensive system, two defensive midfielders and central defenders cannot form an effective block, and the Spanish team often pulls two defensive midfielders apart and then directly faces the two central defenders of the Chinese women's team to form a shooting opportunity. This is even more pronounced in the second half.
These are old problems that continue to arise in the Chinese men's football team. Moreover, when the Chinese women's football team faces the opponent's pressing in the game, it is not uncommon to pass horizontally and return pass, which makes the overall speed of progress slow, which is a common problem for the Chinese men's team. As for the organization of the forward after the defense grabs the ball, it is even more blind, such as the second goal conceded by the Chinese women's football team against Spain, which can be said to be typical of this, the defender player directly hands the ball to the opposing player when the big foot is released, and the opponent directly launches a second attack after breaking the ball on the spot.
For the Chinese women's football team, the current overall situation is not optimistic, and the World Cup women's football tournament is only three months away. It is probably not realistic to solve all the problems in three months. However, this is not a loss of confidence in the Chinese women's football team, but it is hoped that the women's football girls will readjust their mentality, forget their identity as Asian champions, face the unfavorable situation, redefine their positioning, and move towards the goal after choosing the direction. The two trips to Europe actually made more fans realize that the Chinese women's football team wants to make a difference in the World Cup, which is not as easy as imagined!
It's time to cool down, cool down, cool down again for the Chinese women's football!