missed the Olympic Games, and the Chinese women's football team suffered three sticks in 2023
Reporter Wang Wei reported that on the evening of November 1, the Chinese women's football team ushered in the second stage of the Paris Olympic preliminaries in Xiamen. The result of 1 to 1 resulted in China and South Korea not qualifying. This is also the second time that the Chinese women's football team has missed the final stage of the Olympic women's football team after missing the 2012 London Olympics. After the game, Chinese women's football team Wang Shanshan, Dou Jiaxing and other players shed tears on the court. Missing the Paris Olympics, the Chinese women's football team failed to achieve the target results in the 2023 Women's World Cup, the Hangzhou Asian Games, and the Paris Olympic Preliminaries.
Before this life-and-death match, the AFC held the 2022 annual awards ceremony, and Shui Qingxia won the title of 2022 Women's Football Coach of the Year - in recognition of her leading the team to win the 2022 Women's Asian Cup. But this honor is more like an invisible pressure for the Chinese women's football team, which fought against the water in the final round of the group stage. In addition, before this game, the Philippine women's football team, which is second in Group A, has 6 points in hand, and the duel between the Chinese and South Korean women's football teams on the evening of November 1 has become a "life-and-death battle", whether it is the Chinese women's football team with 3 points or the South Korean women's football team with 4 points, only those who win have a chance to advance.
In this game, Shui Qingxia used Liu Yanqiu as the right midfielder in the starting lineup, which is a big change, and Yan Jinjin, who won the first two games of the Olympic preliminaries, was put on the bench.
In the first half, the two teams did not have many chances, and Wuri Gumula once scored for the Chinese women's football team, but the first goal was invalid because Wu Chengshu was offside; As for the South Korean women's football team, it relied more on the 16-year-old mixed-race teenager Cathy Fell to create a kill in the front court, and her breakthrough goal in first-half stoppage time created a killing opportunity for the veteran Ji Xiaoran, who hit the middle post and shocked the Chinese women's football team into a cold sweat.
In the second half, it was the South Korean women's football team that took the lead in rewriting the score, they took advantage of a free kick opportunity in the 61st minute, and Ji Xiaoran assisted Shen Xuanjiao to grab a header to break the deadlock, and the Chinese women's football team was forced into a dead end. It wasn't until the 70th minute that Shui Qingxia finally let go and replaced the central defender Wang Linlin to push the captain Wang Shanshan to the front. The change was immediate, in the 78th minute, the Chinese women's football team equalized with a free kick, Yan Jinjin passed the ball into the penalty area, and Wang Shanshan scored a beautiful goal with a header.
But the 1-1 score was not enough for both Chinese and South Korean teams, and in the 84th minute, the Chinese women's football team played a beautiful left counterattack, Yan Jinjin received a pass from her teammates on the right side to form a single knife, but unfortunately her final shot brushed the post. In the end, after 5 minutes of stoppage time, the Chinese women's football team and the South Korean women's football team drew 1-1, and both teams missed the third stage of the Paris Olympic preliminaries. Japan, Australia, North Korea and Uzbekistan (who finished second in their best group) enter the third stage of the competition and will compete for the last two tickets to the Paris Olympics.
For the Chinese women's football team, there are three major events this year, of which the first event, the Women's World Cup, failed to qualify for the group stage, setting the worst result in the history of the Chinese women's football team in the World Cup; In the Hangzhou Asian Games, the Japanese women's football team and the South Korean women's football team did not send the strongest team to participate in the competition, and only won the bronze medal, which did not meet the expectations of the outside world; And this time the Paris Olympics preliminaries were out, and they didn't even extend their hopes to the third stage - three smacks, which means that the Chinese women's football team has not reached the expected goal in all three major competitions this year.
The exit from the Paris Olympic preliminaries means that the Chinese women's football team will have no major tournaments to play in the next one to two years. Shui Qingxia took over as the head coach of the Chinese women's football team after the Tokyo Olympics, and now she has missed the Paris Olympics, and the full cycle of this coaching staff leading the team has ended.
In the preliminaries of this Olympic competition, the Chinese women's football team did encounter a lot of difficulties, including Wang Shuang's injury and failure to participate, Tang Jiali who stayed in the United States failed to return to the team, and Zhang Linyan failed to reach the best state because of some injuries, another foreign player Wu Chengshu missed the game against the Thai team because of fever, and Li Mengwen failed to register in the game against the South Korean team because of injury. Because of the poor performance, some of Shui Qingxia's tactical arrangements and personnel arrangements have naturally been questioned by some voices from the outside world.
After the game, some media asked Shui Qingxia whether she would continue to lead the Chinese women's football team next, and Shui Qingxia responded: "In terms of results alone, we have not reached the initial goal, but through the game, more young people can be exercised, and it is really possible to see that the Chinese women's football team can do better in terms of skills and tactics in addition to spirit, and can find the right way in the process of failure in the future." As for the future, I can't say right now. No matter what, I hope that the Chinese women's football team will get better and better, and I hope that these girls can really enjoy the happiness brought by football on the football field, and I hope that they will get better and better in the future. ”
After the game, Shui Qingxia talked about the team's preparation and the topic of foreign players, "After going to Xiamen for training, I learned that the overseas players came back late, and I was still worried, worried about their physical fitness, including recovery, jet lag, and they had to play 2 days after they came back." There must have been a lot of people who asked, "Why did you summon them back when you have so many concerns?" The Chinese Football Association has been encouraging more young players to go out, not only to go out, but also to hope that more players will get experience and serve the motherland in the future. Personally, I have been very supportive from the beginning to the present, and I want our players to go out and see the outside world, what are their strengths and weaknesses, and see how football is played in European countries. Shui Qingxia said.
Shui Qingxia also took the initiative to talk about Tang Jiali, who was not selected for the national team this time, "I have always supported Liuyang, many people may be concerned about Tang Jiali's problems, she is also one of the overseas players, she is a very good player, we have been communicating before, including her performance in the league, she is a very powerful player, I hope she can maintain a good level of competition through the Spanish league, and have the opportunity to serve the motherland and return to the team." ”
The Chinese women's football team was empty in the World Cup, Asian Games, and Paris Olympic preliminaries, which made the women's football girls very sad. Wang Shanshan, captain of the Chinese women's football team, burst into tears on the field, "We actually played very well in today's game, and I hope that more young people can get up in the future, carry forward the spirit of the Chinese women's football team, and never give up." ”
"I'm sorry that I didn't win today's race, which means that I won't be able to qualify for the Olympics in the next races. The players showed a very good technical and tactical level in today's game, including the fighting style, and the players really did their best in this game, and I am especially grateful to the players. For not being able to qualify for the Olympic preliminaries, Shui Qingxia apologized after the game.
At the same time, she said: "From the bottom of my heart, I am quite sad, I feel more sorry for these girls, because from the beginning of this year to the present, everyone has been struggling, and the Chinese women's football team has also had highlight moments, and we have also seen a lot of technical and tactical gaps and shortcomings." In fact, we are trying to adjust and change every day, and from the current point of view, the change is not good enough and not fast enough. Our team members also did their best, and I am very grateful to my teammates and my team. ”
Throughout 2023, the Chinese women's football tournament will be held one after another, and it cannot be said that the team does not work hard, but the dilemma of having a thin foundation and a direction that may not be clear cannot be changed in a day or two. Regarding the future of the Chinese women's football team, Shui Qingxia said after the game: "The World Cup, the Asian Games, and the Olympic preliminaries, everyone has seen that we actually have a big gap, especially in youth training, youth training is an important direction for future development." We don't have any big competitions in the next two years, but if we are soberly aware of the gaps and shortcomings, and calm down to deal with some details, I think the Chinese women's football team will go in the right direction. ”