If China's women's soccer team wants to revitalize its former glory, it needs to quit the chaos, abandon impatience, and unswervingly explore the way of development.
At dawn on December 3, Beijing time, the Chinese women's soccer team in the United States started a warm-up match with the United States, and the result was 0-3 hate. So far this year, China's women's soccer team in the World Cup, the Asian Games and the Olympic Games qualifiers in the performance is not satisfactory, the head coach Shui Qingxia also left. Although the coach shoulders the responsibility of guidance, but the Chinese women's soccer team this year's performance is mediocre, the root of the problem, the strength still needs to be improved, and the world's advanced level of soccer is drifting away.
In the 8th minute of the first half, Sophia Smith of the United States was the first to break through the goal; in the 52nd minute of the second half, Lindsay Holland made a clever pass, and the ball went into the net; in the 77th minute, Trinity Rodman added another point, and finally the Chinese women's soccer team defeated the United States women's soccer team by 0-3.
After the game, the US Soccer Association's official website reported a 3:0 score.
The U.S. Soccer Federation's official website then commented on the U.S. women's soccer team's stellar record this year. They finished the 2023 tournament with an undefeated record of 13 wins and 4 draws. Three days later (Dec. 6, 9 p.m. BST), the U.S. Women's Soccer team will play the Chinese Women's Soccer team again at Toyota Stadium in Texas.
Although friendly matches do not fully reflect everything, the gap between the Chinese women's soccer team and the world's top teams is becoming more and more obvious. Even if the U.S. women's soccer team did not go all out, the Chinese women's soccer team is still in a passive situation, which is more painful than the 0-3 score. Looking back, China's women's soccer team has relied on the spirit of the "Clanging Roses" in the world's women's soccer development tide of emerging, but now, in the face of the world's advanced soccer countries in the popularization of women's soccer, the development of professionalism on the huge progress, China's women's soccer team seems to be "sailing against the current, not to advance is to fall back! ".
Of course, all sorts of excuses can be made to explain the loss of the match. Perhaps the jet lag had not yet been adapted, perhaps Shui Qingxia had just stepped down and acting head coach Wang Jun was not familiar enough with the team, or perhaps some of the main players failed to travel with the team. But these excuses can't hide the reality that the overall strength of the Chinese women's soccer team is declining, and can't change the lack of the overall strength of Chinese soccer.
On Dec. 2, Chinese women's soccer players greeted fans after the game. On the same day, the Chinese women's soccer team lost 0-3 to the U.S. women's soccer team on the road in an international soccer friendly match in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Source: Xinhua/Reuters
With the development of soccer, the high level of women's soccer teams often matches that of men's, which is a measure of the overall strength of soccer in a country or region. China's women's soccer team has its roots in the world's strongest teams, thanks to the struggles of generations of female soccer players and the spirit of the "Clanging Roses". But in the context of women's football, which was not yet professionalized 30 years ago, the Chinese women's football team took advantage of its long-term training and institutional strengths to occupy a favorable position early on.
With the continuous development of professional leagues in other soccer powerhouses, women's football has also stepped into the professional era, especially in soccer powerhouses such as England, France, Germany and Spain, which have quietly promoted the development of women's football through the advanced concepts and development experiences of the professionalization of men's football. In contrast, China's soccer heritage and culture are insufficient, and the market base of women's soccer is far inferior to that of men's soccer. The number of spectators in China's women's professional soccer league is often difficult to exceed 1,000, and it is difficult to increase the market value. There is a huge gap between the population of Chinese women's soccer and that of soccer powerhouses such as the United States and Spain.
On Dec. 2, Wang Jun, interim head coach of the Chinese women's soccer team, watched the game from the sidelines. On the same day, the Chinese women's soccer team lost 0-3 to the U.S. women's soccer team on the road in an international soccer friendly match in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Source: Xinhua/Reuters
Of course, after Shui Qingxia led her team to the Asian Cup title, the CFA also encouraged more women's international soccer players to study in Europe with the support of socially responsible companies such as Alipay. However, due to the low income of women's soccer in Europe and the low but lucrative income of domestic professional leagues, such as the Wuhan Women's Football Team whose daily income is generally higher than that of many overseas leagues, this has also limited the willingness of women's soccer players to go abroad to broaden their horizons.
At the end of the day, the Chinese women's soccer team is an integral part of Chinese soccer and cannot develop independently from the deficiencies of Chinese soccer. The Chinese women's soccer team's 0-3 loss to the U.S. women's soccer team, like the Chinese men's soccer team's 0-3 defeat to South Korea, exposed the lack of strength. Players, fans and the media need to have a clear understanding of the strength of the Chinese women's soccer team and maintain an objective evaluation. Only by facing the gap can we see the shortcomings and catch up. For the Chinese women's football, the only way to expand the soccer population, encourage more campus girls to participate in soccer, send more potential young players to study in Europe "borrowed chicken to lay eggs", in order to regain the glory of the past on the stage of the world's women's football.
