With less than 2 months to go before the World Cup, the Chinese women's soccer team is in a critical period of preparation. They have adopted a phased approach of training and warm-up matches. During the rest of the time, the players need to keep up their form at their respective clubs, especially those who stayed overseas. Only if they are able to participate in club matches can they qualify for selection to the national team, otherwise their form cannot be guaranteed. Wang Frost and Tang Jiali are examples of this, as they were once dropped by Shui Qingxia due to their long absences from club matches, which led to poor performances. With the resumption of the European and American leagues and the start of the Women's Super League, the national team players have found their form one after another. The two players mentioned above have also returned to the national team and participated in the second phase of the European training.
At this stage, among the international players studying abroad, Zhang Linyan and Shen Menglu are doing even better, especially the former, who scored consecutive goals. After scoring their first goal in the previous round 2023, they issued another assist in this round to help their team win back-to-back games. The Swiss Women's Super Regular Season ended with Grasshopper Women's Soccer Team hosting Bern Young Women's Soccer Team, who had 27 points from 8 wins, 3 draws and 6 losses, as they were four points ahead of Basel Women's Soccer Team, locking up at least the fifth place and an early entry into the playoffs, with limited pressure to visit, and Grasshopper Women's Soccer Team, who were more than one win behind Zurich Women's Soccer Team, locking up the third place of the regular season in the early round.
Therefore, both sides were more relaxed in this match. Zhang Linyan, who rotated on the bench in the previous round, returned to the starting lineup. She was very active in the midfield at both ends of the game. Grasshopper Women's Football Team utilized the momentum of the home field and kept pressuring the young women's football team. The latter's defense had many holes and goals followed. After 90 minutes of play, the Grasshopper girls scored 8 goals and won the final game by a margin of 8-2, rounding out the third place finish.
Notably, Zhang Linyan had another assist to help the Grasshopper women's soccer team complete their third goal in the 23rd minute. In the regular season, the Grasshopper Women's soccer team's final record is 12 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses and 38 points. According to the Swiss Women's Premier League schedule, the top 8 finishers enter the knockout rounds, and the Grasshopper Women's Soccer Team will also be challenging for the title, with absolute star Zhang Linyan also in for an intensive schedule.
A place in the national team cannot be overlooked in order to strengthen her training form and prevent injuries, but also to ensure that she can maintain her chances of qualifying for the World Cup. If the 22-year-old Zhang Linyan performs well in the knockout rounds, she could potentially reach a higher stage at the end of the season. Standing at only 1 meter 54, she will surely give her all to realize her dream of landing in Europe's top five leagues as soon as possible, and at the same time offer a gift to Shui Qingxia.
