The Paper's reporter Pu Yaolei and Ma Zuoyu were sent from Tokyo
Even though Wang Shuang scored 4 goals alone, he was still powerless to return to heaven.
Chinese fans have ridiculed countless times that the journey of the national football team is an "opening battle, a life and death battle, and an honor battle". Unexpectedly, the Chinese women's football team also encountered a similar script.
In the second round of the group stage on July 24, the Chinese women's football team drew 4-4 with Zambia, scoring only 1 point in the two matches, and in the case of the opponent in the last game was the strong opponent netherlands, the group qualification was only theoretically possible...
Judging from the first two games, the performance of the Chinese women's football team on the defensive end can be described as bad, whether it is facing Brazil, which has strong overall strength or Zambia, which has outstanding single point ability, it is basically helpless.
From the initial selection list caused by doubts, to the difficult steps of the Olympic arena, the outside world can't help but ask - the Chinese women's football team does need to cultivate new talents, but is it really appropriate to "pay tuition" for the Olympic Games?
Chinese women's football coach Jia Xiuquan.
From striving for goal difference to barely keeping the draw
In the F group where the Chinese women's football team is located, the Zambian women's football team is the weakest of the three opponents. This team is the first time to participate in the Olympic Games "rookie", the 104th place in the world ranking is also the lowest of the Olympic women's football team.
Therefore, in the pre-match prediction, the match against Zambia is a game in which the Chinese women's football team must take all three points - not only that, but the team must also try to get as many goal differences as possible in order to gain an advantage in the competition for the qualifying place in the group.
However, reality gave all Chinese fans a heads-up.
Although the Chinese women's football team once took a 3-1 lead in the first half, the team's weak defense gave up the good situation, so that the Zambian women's football team came later and reversed the score to 4-3 in the 67th minute...
If it were not for Wang Shuang's penalty in the last minute to save the team, the Chinese women's football team would not have taken all three points, and even the draw almost failed to get.
But even this draw, the consequences are also disastrous.
According to the format of this Olympic Games, the top two of the three groups and the third of the two best performing groups can get the top eight places. Now that the second round of group matches is over, the Chinese women's football team, the Japanese women's football team, and the Australian women's football team are the third in their respective groups, of which the Australian women's football team has 1 win and 3 points, and the Chinese women's football team and the Japanese women's football team are only 1 point with 1 draw and 1 loss.
However, in the final round of the group stage, the opponent of the Japanese women's football team is weaker, the Chilean women's football team that has lost two consecutive times, and the opponent of the Chinese women's football team is the 2019 World Cup runner-up Dutch women's football team.
In other words, although the Chinese women's football team has not yet been officially declared "dead", it is already in an embarrassing state where only theory is possible.
Wang Shuang was lonely.
Defensive problems, no excuses
The fragility of the Chinese women's football defense line was actually exposed in the first game against the Brazilian women's football team, but because of the famous strength of the opponent, the loss of the Chinese women's football team was not unexpected.
However, in the face of the Zambian women's football team, whose overall strength is not at a high level, and can concede 4 goals in a single game, the Chinese women's football team has no excuse for its defensive problems.
Not only that, after losing 4 goals on the book, the Chinese women's football team also paid more price: in the 85th minute, in order to interrupt the counterattack of the Zambian women's football team, Li Qingtong dragged down the opposing striker and was directly sent off with a red card, otherwise the Chinese women's football team's goal would be fatally threatened...
And it was Banda, the star scorer of the Zambian women's football team, who was dragged down in this foul.
Li Qingtong was sent off with a red card.
The strong striker joined the Chinese Women's Super League last year, played for the Shanghai women's football team, and won the league top scorer last season, and was considered the focus of the Chinese women's football team before the match.
As a result, in the game, she scored a hat-trick, and together with Wang Shuang, who completed the senior year, the two of them scored 7 of the 8 goals in the game.
Previously, Shanghai women's football coach Shui Qingxia analyzed Banda's characteristics when communicating with the surging news reporter: "She has good physical fitness, fast speed and strong body, and her feet are not bad. Because she's fast, she looks like she's (the type of rush), but it's not, she's more comprehensive. ”
As for how to defend this kind of player, whether it is a special person to keep an eye on the defense or the overall defense, Shui Qingxia believes that it still depends on the tactical arrangements of the coaching team. But from the perspective of actual combat, the defensive arrangement of the Chinese women's football team has not worked...
After the game, Chinese women's football defender Wang Xiaoxue said in an interview: "In fact, there is a deployment for her staring coach, but obviously from the results, we have not done a good job." ”
The team's defensive performance after two games also had to make Chinese fans pessimistic about the last group game. Previously, the Dutch women's football team beat the Zambian women's football team 10-3, and some fans said on the Internet: "Playing the Netherlands, can the Chinese women's football team control the ball loss below double digits?" ”
Banda (center) is the Chinese Women's Super League top scorer.
The rookie lineup can only "pay tuition" in the end?
The poor defensive performance of the Chinese women's football team is crucially related to the absence of defender Wu Haiyan.
In the preparation period before the Olympics, Wu Haiyan suffered a knee injury, and although she came to Tokyo with the team this time, she could only watch the game from the sidelines under the injury.
The absence of some powerful players has also weakened the team's defense to some extent - such as Lou Jiahui, who had previously performed well as a full-back in the Olympic play-offs, did not appear in the Olympic list of the Chinese women's football team.
The player who caused controversy because of his failure to win the Olympic roster is not just Lou Jiahui.
Previously, Tang Jiali, Ma Jun and many other famous players missed the Olympic list, which caused a heated discussion among fans. Subsequently, the Chinese women's football team only revealed that Tang Jiali was absent because of injury.
While many fans are familiar with the absence of names, Jia Xiuquan has recruited a number of newcomers – five of the 22-man squad have made 0 international A-class appearances, and another 5 have played between 1 and 3 (as of the Tokyo Olympics).
Banda once questioned Jia Xiuquan's lineup choice for the Chinese women's football team on Weibo.
Before the expedition, Jia Xiuquan said in an interview: "Cultivating more people for the Chinese women's football team is what I should do in this position." Otherwise what if (in the future)? This group of players may not necessarily have other people's fame, but this Olympic mission I think these people may be the most suitable. ”
But from the perspective of actual competition, it is very inappropriate to use a relatively inexperienced team to compete in the competition.
In the two group matches, Jia Xiuquan gave Liu Jing and Wuzhigumula, two players who had no previous experience in international A-level matches, play time – especially the latter, who came off the bench early in more than 30 minutes in both games.
But in the second game, Uzhigumla replaced Yang Man, the offensive high point on the field, which became a turning point for the team from leading to falling behind in hindsight...
With the last group game left, Chinese fans can only wait for a miracle to happen – but the reality is often cold, and Chinese football also needs to think more after the Olympic Games.
Women's football needs a blueprint for future development and a plan to stay abroad, rather than being "responsible" again and again.
Editor-in-Charge: Ascendas