Chinese women's soccer team wins first match of East Asian Cup
By Wang Wei: In the first match of the East Asia Cup, the Chinese women's soccer team defeated the Chinese Taipei women's soccer team with a score of 2-0, thanks to Zhang Linyan's goal and the opponent's oolong goal. Despite the fact that China had the upper hand in the match, too many passing and receiving errors and a slow start made people worry about facing strong teams like Japan and South Korea.
Although the East Asian Cup is seen as a practice ground, head coach Shui Qingxia made it clear before the tournament that the primary goal was to beat Chinese Taipei, followed by working out the younger players.
In the starting lineup for the match, Shui Qingxia boldly used three post-00s players, including Zhang Linyan, Wang Linlin and Wan Jiayao. Both young defenders were playing for the first time for the Chinese women's soccer team coached by Shui Qingxia.
Observed throughout the match, Wang Linlin, who plays center back, faced few tests, while Wan Jiayao, despite playing center back for her club, was placed at left back for this match. This is the position that Shui Qingxia is focusing on, and she also introduced Beijing's He Zhaofen. During the match, Wan Jiayao was active in assisting the ball.
After the match, Wan Jiayao, who played for the first time on behalf of the Chinese women's soccer team, said that she was very nervous for the first five minutes, but then gradually got into the state, "Shui gave us young players some opportunities to let go of our kicks, be bolder and more confident."
Lynn Wang said she adapted to the pace of the game faster, "If she has another chance to play in the next game, I hope to play with strength in the center back position."
Zhang Linyan, as the goal scorer, broke the goal from a small angle after receiving Wang Shanshan's pass in the 11th minute of the first half, in addition to having a single chance that she failed to grasp. She also said that there are many places to summarize after the game.
Although the first goal came early, the Chinese team only won 2-0, which was evaluated as "not enough fun". Failure to score more goals was not only a problem for the strikers, but also for the Chinese team, which made more mistakes and had few effective shots on goal under the fierce competition from their opponents.
Mistakes and lack of fluency in the game reflect basic ability and fundamentals, while the Chinese team's form is in dire need of improvement in the face of challenges from South Korea and Japan.
Sun Wen has said that in order to be less passive against strong teams such as Japan and South Korea, it is necessary to strengthen the work of foreign exchange and youth training, "powerful opponents to achieve a strong self, players should continue to accept the challenge to surpass themselves."
Currently, Zhang Linyan has confirmed to join Swiss team Grasshopper to start his journey to stay in the world.
Shui Qingxia expressed her satisfaction with the game after the match and said that although there are many things that need to be summarized and adjusted in the process, as the first match, she hoped that more players could adapt to the rhythm of the game.
