In the expectation of the home audience, the Chinese women's football team finally failed to break through the Japanese team.
On the evening of October 3, the Chinese women's football team lost 3-4 to the Japanese women's football team in the semifinals of the Hangzhou Asian Games, and did not win the gold medal in the Asian Games women's football team for 25 consecutive years.
For fans, the failure of the main Chinese women's team to defeat the Japanese women's team, which sent the second team, is undoubtedly shocking. In an interview with The Paper, former Chinese women's football main goalkeeper Zhao Lina also admitted that the Chinese women's football team in the first half was a little unable to find direction.
"We can see the shortcomings of the Chinese team, but we also hope that everyone can give them a little time, and the team is working how to solve the problem."
Former Chinese women's football goalkeeper Zhao Lina.
Two halves, from confusion to catching up
In the group stage, the Chinese women's football team defeated Mongolia women's football team and Uzbekistan women's football team 16-0 and 6-0 respectively, and then defeated Thailand women's football team 4-0 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semi-finals.
However, against the Japanese women's team, which sent a second-team squad with only one player to have participated in this year's Women's World Cup, the Chinese women's team suffered a head-on blow - 1-4 behind at the end of the first half.
"The first half was really in a short period of time, and it was a lot of goals conceded at once, which may have made the Chinese women's football team a little confused." When reviewing the match, former Chinese women's football national Zhao Lina analyzed to the surging news reporter.
The Chinese women's football team unfortunately missed the final.
"So for a while, it felt like the team was a little bit anxious, a little bit confused. When there is an opportunity to attack, it will be more blind to use the most direct and simple way (handling). In fact, in the final analysis, it may be because after conceding too many goals in a short period of time, it is a bit blind. ”
In fact, after the game, Shui Qingxia, the head coach of the Chinese women's football team, also mentioned the team's mentality in the first half, "The score in the first half was not expected for me. The key is that the mentality in the offensive and defensive transition is also a little anxious, and the fight is a little tight, resulting in the inability to run. ”
But fortunately, after the half-time, the team managed to stabilize the situation and scored two goals in a row with a header in the second half, but unfortunately they ended up missing the final with a score of 3-4.
'We found a way to score from set-pieces, we found the key to victory and everyone was trying to find chances. After scoring two goals in the second half, there were actually some better chances, but with a bit of luck. Zhao Lina said.
After the game, the girls burst into tears.
It's not easy behind the continuous battles
As Zhao Lina said, "There is a certain gap between us and the Japanese team, everyone knows this, but the Japanese team is not a strong opponent to beat." "Coupled with the fact that Japan is not the strongest squad this time, many fans are still expecting to see a victory.
But the actual situation of the game shows that the Chinese team still has a lot to improve. Shui Qingxia's post-match analysis is also very frank, "From the perspective of the score, it is only a little worse, but from the actual content, I hope to really experience and change something through the game, and such a little gap can actually explain a lot of problems." ”
Head coach of Shui Qingxia.
One of the obvious points is the stability of the defense - in the face of the rapid offensive passing of the Japanese women's team, the Chinese women's team could not keep up with the rhythm in the first half, "There will still be a series of problems under the high pressure of the opponent." Zhao Lina said.
In the offensive routine, the team also has room for further improvement, such as trying more diversified offensive options and more targeted play styles for different opponents.
However, despite missing the final, the Chinese women's team still have a chance to fight for a podium in the bronze medal battle – a challenge in 2023 that will not be easy for the team that entered the Asian Games shortly after the World Cup.
Chinese female footballers fight on the field.
"In fact, after the World Cup, the Chinese women's football team did not have much time to adjust, and after the players returned to China, they immediately returned to their clubs to play in the Women's Super League, and the physical consumption was very large."
"From the beginning of the year to now, the members of the national team have almost never rested, the Asian Games will be the Olympic qualifiers immediately after the games, and the Women's Super League will start again soon after the qualifiers, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, the players can be regarded as 'model workers' this year."
Fans supporting the Chinese women's football team at the scene.
Olympic qualifiers, what do we do?
As Zhao Lina said, the Asian Games competition is not the last major task of the Chinese women's football team this year - the next Paris Olympic qualifiers, which will start at the end of October, will be extremely harsh tests.
According to the format, in the second stage of the Asian Olympic Qualifiers, the 12 teams are divided into three groups, with the first place in each group and the second place with the best results in the three groups qualifying, and the four teams who qualify play two legs of home and away matches against each other to determine the two places for the Paris Olympic Games.
In the group stage, the Chinese women's football team needs to compete with the women's football teams of North Korea, South Korea and Thailand in the same group for the top spot in the group; If you can qualify, you will also face a two-legged knockout match against potential opponents Japan and Australia, which is difficult to imagine.
The Japanese women's football team bowed after the match to pay tribute to the audience and the Chinese women's football coaching staff.
When analyzing the prospects of the Olympic qualifiers, Zhao Lina said frankly that the situation is grim, "In the last two Olympic qualifiers, everyone has played very hard, and this time to the Olympic qualifiers will only be more difficult. ”
But no matter how thorny the road ahead, Zhao Lina will continue to accompany and support the Chinese women's football team with the fans.
"International competitions [the experience learned] take time to absorb. Growth and progress do not appear in an instant, but require a lot of accumulation and precipitation. ”
"Although the Asian Games did not win the championship, I believe that people should also be able to feel the hard work of the girls on the field and the spirit of not giving up until the last minute."
"We can see the shortcomings of the Chinese team, but we also hope that everyone can give them a little time."