Today (April 14), known as "the most American door" women's soccer player Zhao Lina announced her retirement.
Zhao Lina started playing soccer at the age of 7, joined the Shanghai professional team in 2005, and was selected for the national team in 2015. She has represented the Chinese national team in many international matches and has achieved success in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada, the quarterfinals of the 2016 Rio Olympics, the runner-up at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, and the winner of the 2022 Asian Cup. She is also one of the best goalkeepers in Shanghai Women's Football.At 32, she has chosen to turn the corner, but will not leave the stadium.
All about soccer in the past, she was filled with reluctance; about her future plans, she was filled with anticipation. Here's what Lena Zhao had to say in her own words.
I'm Lena Zhao, and today I'm leaving the soccer field that has been with me for 24 years to start a new job and life at the age of 32.
Now, I would pick up a soccer ball and drumsticks and practice. I'll ride my motorcycle down the road; I'll make occasional guest appearances as a print model for magazines; I'll record my own short videos; and I've even set up a soccer charity program.
Lina Zhao teaches the children to play soccer.
Since I started as a short video blogger, my follower count has skyrocketed. Now, I have 1.38 million followers on Twitter and 3.65 million followers on Shakeology. Some people think I'm a host held back by soccer because you didn't know me before.
In the past, I was introverted and not good at speaking. I would get nervous when facing reporters. If there was a camera facing me, it was even worse. Once I was interviewed, because I was nervous, I said a lot in one breath. After that, I don't know what I said, only that I was incoherent all the time. Experiences are the best way for a person to experience something, and what experienced me was soccer. So it really didn't hold me back. I just want to be thankful for it.
The soccer team has given me confidence, honor, and sparkle, and now I want to pass it on, which is one of the next big things I want to do.
Last month, I went to Yuanbao Primary School in Guizhou. Yuanbao Primary School, located in Yuanbao Village, Dafang County, Bijie City, Guizhou Province, is a remote school that requires nine turns to reach. A few years ago, no one played soccer in this school. Then someone donated a stadium and the school started soccer lessons. When I met the children for the first time, they asked me, "Why are you so tall?" "Why is the soccer player so pretty?"
I wondered why children think that girls who play soccer can't be associated with "beauty". Who says that girls who play soccer are muscular, have short hair and dark skin?
I took them to games, watched soccer videos, told them stories about women's soccer, and organized them to play matches. Shy mountain children come to the soccer field as if switching channels, tough and confident.
After getting acquainted with the children, one girl said to me, "Sister, I will train well from now on. Can I be your teammate when I enter the national team?" At that time, I felt that her words were enough to support me on the path to popularizing soccer.
My goal is that in the next 4, in the next 5 years, I have gone into 100 elementary schools in remote areas, donated soccer fields, provided training assistance, and provided tournament opportunities.
I want to plant a little soccer seed in their hearts. Maybe in the future, it will take root. If a child walks out of the mountain because of extra credit on a test, or because they find a better job, as long as it actually helps them, that's enough. After these basic things, and then talk about "for the Chinese women's soccer talent".
After I retired, I always stood under the goal - only, the impenetrable goal I was guarding became a door for more people to learn about and approach soccer. I want all girls to fall in love with soccer, because I really think girls who play soccer are cool. If you see a cool girl wearing 1.88 meters in Shanghai in the future, yes, that person is me.
