Late at night on August 1, the temperature at the New Demarche Stadium dropped to single digits, and the blinding 1-6 score on the LED screen announced the end of the Chinese women's soccer team's "blessed land".
In the face of this painful loss, Shui Qingxia, the head coach of the Chinese women's soccer team, firstly recognized the players' hard work, but also pointed out the aspects of the team that need to be reflected upon. She reiterated more than once: "We hope more little girls will devote themselves to soccer in the future."
Those short words speak to the profound reality behind the score.
soccer population
After the match, a senior women's soccer player revealed a set of data to us: there are only about 8,000 registered women's soccer players in China, while our rival England has as many as 1.8 million. The audience for this year's England Women's FA Cup final reached a staggering 77,390, while the Chinese Women's FA Cup final was a sell-out, with zero spectators. What we see on the pitch is a battle of 11 players, but behind it is a gap of thousands or even millions of soccer population.
Picking 23 out of 8,000 versus 23 out of 1.8 million people, the competition speaks for itself. It's clear how big the soccer talent pool is in the country.
Before the match, I interviewed England fans and asked them for their prediction of the score. The fans in front of the camera hesitated for a long time, while the fans outside the camera shouted out directly: "China Women's Football Team 0-7." At that moment, I felt a bit upset. After all, how could China, ranked fourth in the world, lose so badly against the world's 14th-ranked team, having conceded only one goal in the first two games? After all, we were still averaging a goal a game and knocking out four key players.
When the final whistle blew, as England fans predicted, their team scored seven goals, including an offside goal.
It wasn't until an industry expert mentioned the $80 million versus $1.8 million comparison that I then realized the 1-6 score was actually reasonable. If we squeak out a win or a draw, is it fair to the regions that have worked so hard and put their feet to the fire to promote women's soccer?
It's unbelievable that a country with a population of 1.3 billion has only a few thousand women's soccer registrations.
In a previous interview, I asked an international player, "If you had a daughter, would you let her play soccer?" Without hesitation, he replied, "No. Girls should learn piano, chess, calligraphy and painting and stay away from soccer, let alone professional soccer."
Many of China's professional female soccer players are involved in soccer purely out of love, and their initiation into the game often has nothing to do with their parents, unlike male soccer players. Instead, when they love soccer and are determined to become professional players, their parents discourage them.
Everything seems mundane, except for the high reading. If soccer can be linked to education and contribute to future higher education, perhaps some parents will be willing to get their daughters involved. Otherwise, one has to rely on the children's own choices or enlightened coaches to mine the vast ocean for these pearls that are about to sink to the bottom.
Therefore, China's women's soccer team hopes to return to the ranks of the top teams in international competitions such as the Olympic Games and the World Cup, rather than to open a huge gap with the world. The only way to do that is to attract more girls to soccer, which is what industry insiders call the "foundation".
Team Issues
Then, the "foundation" is naturally the big family of Chinese women's soccer.
In another press conference, England coach Wigman analyzed the Chinese women's soccer team's tactics: "They pressed a bit, but not consistently enough, and quickly went back to their customary style of play."
During the match, we often saw Chinese women's front players such as Lou Jiahui and Wu Chengshu desperately trying to grab the ball, while England's high press was collective and persistent, which led to more mistakes and possession switches. Moments of offense and defense transition are often the peak times for scoring and conceding goals.
When I saw 32-year-old Lou Jiahui's legs cramp up in the 100th minute, no one was moved or sympathized. This is the embodiment of the spirit of women's soccer, but also the result of the accumulation of high-intensity running.
Unfortunately, there are too few players who insist on pressing their opponents like Lou Jiahui.
So what is high intensity running? By women's soccer industry standards, over 19 kilometers per hour is high intensity running. The top teams in the world, like England, run at a high intensity of about 800 meters per capita per game, and over 1,000 meters per game.
The average high-intensity running standard for the Chinese women's soccer team is about 600 meters, and the best statistic in the team is left back Chen Qiaozhu, who can run up to 900 meters of high-intensity running, which is comparable to England. That's why she is one of the candidates who can't play three games in a row at the World Cup.
The level of data from the high intensity runs dictated the change of pace of the game. England's women's soccer team runs better when they have the skill to do so. Naturally, they can control the game and even change the tempo at will until the opponents can't keep up. At that point, the Chinese women's soccer team's defense will be less in place and the score will be disappointing.
In light of this shortcoming, Shui Qingxia took 27 disciples through a rigorous training program as early as last winter in Hainan. Tens of thousands of meters of training every day until the players could no longer stand and fell directly to the ground. Some players who could only run tens of meters or even more than a hundred meters were able to reach two or three hundred meters after these trainings. Players who were initially at two or three hundred meters were also able to reach five or six hundred meters after these trainings.
If some players cannot even reach the most basic average level in the team, no matter how good their skills are, can they still play on the field? Just like a Ferrari, no matter how good the engine is, the car can't run without oil.
For many coaches, players with ability and attitude are always their favorites, such as Zhang Linyan and Wang Shanshan. Shui Qingxia is no exception. But if one has ability but no attitude, and the other has attitude but lacks tactical discipline, as a coach, how would you choose?
The score of 1-6 is not the end of the world, we can not indulge in the past glory. Looking to the future, we should not be proud of the victory and not be discouraged by the defeat, and a better tomorrow for the Chinese women's soccer team will eventually come.
