Meteors whizzed by in the azure sky. The silhouettes of the pyramids were interspersed back and forth with the orange halo of the sun, light and dark.
Li Mengwen's compositions have a beauty of geometry intermingled with light and shadow.
In the words of her friend, "If she didn't play soccer, Fumiko could be a photographer instead."
The photo shows a stark contrast between the darkness in the near distance and the brightness in the far distance, a true reflection of what it was like to study abroad with the women's international soccer team at the time.
First, the first flash
In early November, in the seventh round of the Ligue 1 women's soccer tournament, 27-year-old Li Mengwen missed taking the field for the first time since studying abroad.
This month, Li Mengwen's circle of friends is very quiet, no dynamic, which is also the first time in 2022.
Without the reappointment when he first arrived, these cold feet might be easy to take now.
"Before I joined Paris, I was worried about whether I would be able to play in the team. The competitors for the same position were all international players from strong European and American teams. Canadian international Ashley Lawrence has the Tokyo Olympic title and French international De Almeida has a big name in the Europa League quarterfinals."
"I had a very calm mindset and low expectations for this study abroad."
So it's not hard to understand that when former Jiangsu coach and Paris women's soccer assistant coach Jeslyn invited Li Mengwen to come, she was ecstatic: "Coach, are you kidding me about going to Paris to play soccer?"
Jeslin responded, "From my understanding, you have the ability to play in Paris. Although you will encounter a lot of difficulties, I believe you can do it."
A week later, the first round of Ligue 1 began with Paris hosting Charente Suavayo. A day before the match, Li Mengwen's work certificate had not yet been completed. The Paris debut was, unsurprisingly, postponed.
Two hours before kickoff, two hours before kickoff, outside of Paris, at the Stade du Loge, a surprise descends.
The proof of the job came. The roster came out and the resounding rose appeared on the bench. Aside from the joy, the nerves and excitement of the possibility of appearing in the Big Five at any moment kept flowing.
Paris established a two-goal lead after halftime. Li Mengwen put on her white training clothes and started warming up, waiting for her moment.
In the 84th minute, the fourth official held up the substitution sign and the green numbers on the LED lit up, "26"
It was Lee Monkman's number, and as she double-checked her race gear, she riveted herself and ran up to the façade, the corners of her mouth soon unable to stop lifting.
"I was a little nervous, but I was covered in excitement." In her limited 10 minutes, right back Monica Lee made five forwards and two 1-2 attacks, creating free kicks and corner kicks.
"I feel like there's an inexhaustible amount of energy, I just don't run enough."
In the second round of the league, Li Mengwen played the whole second half. In the first round of the Champions League qualification, Li Mengwen made her European debut, playing 20 minutes.
She is gradually being taken seriously. Starting from the fourth round of the league, Li Mengwen made three consecutive starts and became an integral part of the Paris defense. The old Chinese saying that everything is difficult at the beginning doesn't seem to work for this Jiangsu girl.
The outside world's skepticism has been completely quelled. However, the real test had just arrived.
II. Sitting on the bench
On October 25, the team traveled to Madrid. It was the first away game of the Champions League for Li Mengwen, and her upcoming opponent was Real Madrid.
Before taking off, she snapped a picture of the whole team, smiles all around, the freshness of studying abroad still fresh in her mind, and she is looking forward to this brand new journey.
Will the Champions League debut go as planned?
The final whistle blew for the final game, ending the warm-ups for Li Mengwen. In two Champions League matches, the team drew 1 and lost 1, and the Clash's playing time remained set at 0.
But in Paris, with three fronts, an intensive schedule of three games a week tends to occur. after the 0-0 draw against Real Madrid, the team and Lee had less than 72 hours to prepare for the next game.
After a late night in Madrid, the whole team traveled around the clock and landed in Paris just after midnight.
The whole team disbanded on the spot at the airport. It was close to dawn when Mona Lee got home. "Around four or five." She couldn't sleep that fast after her biological clock was disrupted, tossing and turning.
The team, undefeated in two games in the Champions League, sat on the bench after the away game and went home early in the morning. A few hours later, she had to return to the base to start preparing for the league.
As the day dawned and woke up, there were no three meals a day to take care of in the group life at home. Li Mengwen, who knew almost nothing about cooking before going abroad, needed to buy her own food, learn to cook, wash the dishes and chopsticks. After two to three hours of exploration and occasional video connections with her family thousands of miles away, she finished the meal as quickly as possible.
"It's exhausting, and I didn't get used to it at first." As the novelty wore off and exhaustion slowly set in, Monica Lee saw the hard work that comes with studying abroad.
After a full stomach, he stepped onto a familiar field and saw familiar teammates. "They were as energetic as chicken blood, not noticing the fatigue from last night." As they trained, Li Mengwen's anxiety and fatigue immediately disappeared.
"One of the most useful words I got from the reading was "focus". There are many things that should not be pursued too much for the result, but should be more focused on the process. I did what I had to do, such as focusing on training, having a good attitude, cherishing the opportunity and fighting hard. The rest of the results were natural. In today's fast-food era, many people do a little bit of everything to chase results and get a little too anxious."
Reading 18 books a year, a private hobby in her spare time, points the way for Mona Lee at the moment.
Two days later, Monica Lee returned to make her league debut as her team won 2-0 on the road.
3. Still on the road
On December 17th, the Parisian women's soccer team put their home stadium at the Parc des Princes for the first time this season. Li Mengwen stepped on the world-class stadium for the first time and recorded the joy before the match with her photos.
After 90 minutes, the team beat Real Madrid 2-1, defeating their opponents to advance to the next level. Unfortunately, Li Mengwen was still unable to play in the team's most crucial match. She was close to the Princes Park lawn, but actually quite far away.
"Proud of my teammates, the atmosphere was really good and I hope to have the opportunity to step foot on Princes Park many times in the future."
Six days later, the long-lost Chinese name: "LI" appeared on the big screen at Stamford Bridge. Li Mengwen made her Champions League debut opposite Chelsea, the strongest opponent in the group. The last Chinese player to make his debut here was Dong Fangzhuo 15 years ago. Teammate Lena Yang is on the bench.
Through the sunken players' tunnel, jogging into the sea of blue, with lights hitting her face from all sides. For the first time as a player, Li Mengwen set foot on the place where countless stories had taken place and witnessed many glorious European wars.
Waving flags around Stamford Bridge. "I was most emotional about the game. Thousands of fans came at the women's game, but the situation was really exciting and the momentum instantly filled me up. It felt really good."
Among those fans were two other Chinese figures who came to see Li Mengwen play. "My compatriots always give me more closeness. I feel there is a force behind the game that supports me."
As soon as the opening whistle blew, Li Mengwen was able to run up and down the field for 90 minutes to finish her final race of 2022. After the game, Mona Lee recalled how she felt about the game. She replied, "The ball was really easy to hit."
On Weibo, Li Mengwen also put a close-up of the official UEFA Champions League ball.
During the winter break, Monwen Lee traveled to Iceland. In the Nordic region of Jiangsu Province, she saw more than 60 furniture and music departments, felt the children's love for sports and the elders' support for soccer youth.
This shock is related to her childhood. If it wasn't for Li Mengwen's perseverance and her determination to "stop studying if you don't let me practice," she might not have been able to break through the barren soil of Chinese soccer and continue to run on the field with other soccer girls, or even go across the ocean to realize her dream.
The 27-year-old has come a long way to hear the echoes of her dreams.
Returning to the Parisian women's soccer team in 2023, Monique Lee started five of the six matches, playing in two and producing one penalty kick.
During the women's national team training in February, she issued an assist against Sweden, the No. 3 team in the world. In the game against Ireland, she could get in and out of the game, attacking and defending well. In the words of teammate Wu Chengshu, "Fumiko is more confident than before, dares to take the ball and handles it more reasonably."
