Since the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games, the Chinese women's soccer team has not won the Asian Games. In other words, we haven't tasted victory in the Asian Games championship in 25 years. At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, the team coached by Jia Xiuquan made it to the final, but eventually lost 0:1 to Japan, who did not field a full-strength team. This time, the burden of ending the embarrassing 25-year record will be on Shui Qingxia. Previously, Shui Qingxia led the team to regain the Asian Cup title after 16 years. Hopefully, the Chinese women's soccer team will be able to win the Asian Games this time.
For the Chinese women's soccer team, there is another good news for this Asian Games, which is that the strongest opponent of the Chinese team, and the current No. 1 in Asia, is the Japanese team. Like the previous Asian Cup and Asian Games, they still don't plan to send their strongest lineup. They still have a mix of starters and substitutes. In recent years, Japan has largely taken this attitude towards Asian tournaments. In order to prepare for the more important World Cup and Olympics, they play some young athletes and some fringe players from the national team in Asian tournaments. So, technically, they can be considered Japan's second team. By participating in tournaments such as the Asian Cup or the Asian Games, they can confirm that they can participate in tournament lineups such as the World Cup or the Olympics. Therefore, their overall strength is completely different from the Japanese team that is currently in the top 8 of the World Cup. It is similar to the level of Japan we met in the Asian Cup. China is definitely capable of competing with such a team.
Taken together, there are two exciting news about the Chinese women's soccer team's participation in the Asian Games. Firstly, the Football Association has decided to call them for training in advance. Secondly, if the main opponent, Japan, sends a non-strongest team to participate, the Chinese women's soccer team will have a greater hope of regaining the Asian Games title.
