As the footsteps of time cannot be measured, I have no answer. However, if the grass-roots level is strengthened and the glory of the old women's soccer team reappears, perhaps we can gradually catch up.
In 1999, at the age of 20, Pu Wei made her debut on the World Cup stage. She made her debut in the 90,000-strong Rose Bowl final, becoming the most colorful of the roses, and the highest honor the Chinese women's soccer team has ever touched.
Moments from the 1999 Women's World Cup Final
In 2014, Pu Wei, who is over thirty years old, represented the national team for the last time. In the nearly empty Yongchuan stands, she wore her exclusive jersey bearing the number 219, the final mark of her national team career. For the first time, the CFA held a retirement ceremony for a women's international footballer, a certificate of honor to bid farewell to the king of her historical appearances.
Pu Wei, 42, returned at the 2023 Women's Super League partnership ceremony, alongside a new generation of international players including Sun Wen, Zhu Yu, Xu Huan and Ou Yi.
Once participants, they are now witnesses, passing the baton to a new generation and looking forward to the Australian echoes of the summer.
The new and old women's soccer teams are on the same stage, which is both a hope, a legacy and a spur.
I. Peak Moments
Retired for nearly ten years, Pu Wei stands in the river of time to review the past. Those glorious moments are not only good memories, but also insurmountable peaks.
When talking about the old women's soccer team, Pu Wei is always asked about the 1999 Women's World Cup.
Out of 219 national team games, when talking about the happiest and saddest game, Pu Wei always mentions that battle between China and the United States - the Rose Bowl.
Before that World Cup, the young Pu Wei had already been in the national team for a year and gradually became a regular in the women's soccer team. She was a strong runner, good at getting back into the game, and a good passer, and eventually won a ticket to the United States of America.
China's women's soccer team has not attracted much attention, no high-profile goals, lightweight, but gradually amazing.
With the exception of a substitute game against Sweden in the first match, Pu Wei was a starter in the remaining five matches, with a long-range shot against Russia helping the team reach the semifinals.
Unfortunately, in the final, the goddess of victory no longer favored the Roses.
Battling to a penalty shootout and collapsing at the last second, Pu Wei and her sisters missed out on the world title.
The regret of a lifetime Pu Wei is still unforgettable, so close to the top podium, but so far away.
Entering the new century, just when the Chinese thought China's women's soccer team would be in its prime, the team began to slip from its peak, missing the World Cup and the Olympics for a time. At that time, Pu Wei was in the team, three times in and three times out, saw some problems, but was unable to change.
After retiring, she revisited this dark time as a youth coach to understand the difficulties of old women's soccer.
II. Germination stage
"After thinking about it differently, I think it's the infrastructure that's not being done right."
Pu Wei has been involved in youth training since 2018 and has coached Shanghai's elite U11 team and the Shanghai University women's soccer team.
Over the past five years, Pu Wei has found that the gap between Chinese women's soccer and the world's top teams is not just a matter of other countries' concerns and copying the mature men's soccer system. More importantly, it is the teachers, parents' attitudes and selection patterns of Chinese soccer.
Pu Wei used her own experience as a reference. "Take me as an example. From the junior team, youth team to the national team, all the coaches who have taught us are retired. They have a background as professional athletes and have a deeper understanding of soccer."
Now, after the announcement of the soccer reform plan, the popularity of school soccer has increased, and the number of people involved in soccer has increased both on campus and in the stadium. On this basis, there is a growing demand for good coaches at all age groups.
"In this trend, the growth of good teachers lags far behind the number of popularizers. I see a lot of coaches who are casual soccer fans. They don't have the resume of a professional player and lead their teams with passion. That passion is valuable, but something more specialized hits a blind spot of knowledge that can't be imparted to players."
"For example, what kind of techniques need to be used in what scenarios, how to adjust mentally in difficult situations, how to get ahead, how to fall behind, how not to be humble, these more detailed scenarios are taught. If the coach does not have a clear and accurate perception, how can the child integrate further growth?"
If a soccer boy is compared to a budding rose, then without growers who are familiar with the attributes of flowers to cope with cultivation in a variety of complex environments. How can a rose in a flower bed blossom successfully, and where are the hundreds of flowers?
In 2019, FIFA released the Women's Football Survey. Compared with the number of registered coaches in each country, the United States has 172,070, England has 65,421, and China has 56,551. Looking at the number of registered coaches, there seems to be little difference between China and England, but the threshold for coaches is even lower considering the E-level coaching certificates that are not available in the CFA and other countries. With the same level of statistics, I'm afraid that China will have even fewer excellent coaches.
Having more soccer seeds is gratifying, but in the barren soil of Chinese soccer, they need more professional cultivators to successfully break through the soil.
In addition to the lack of enough good coaches, parents' attitudes towards soccer can affect their children's development, and the invisible pressure can have a detrimental effect.
When Pu Wei led the U11 ladder team, she felt firsthand the desire of Chinese parents to see their children look forward to becoming dragons.
Many parents require their children to learn soccer, which means they are determined to pursue a professional career. They have the mentality that you have to get a return on your investment, which is quite common.
"My idea is to get kids to try more sports. Parents should be the child's guide, not the decision maker. Once the child has a sense of independence, give the final choice back to them."
This year, a child on a CFL U17 team was placed on the training roster. The parents immediately called around for help from familiar coaches, asking how to resolve the situation and if they needed to express something to pave the way for their child's future.
Naturally, Pu Wei talked about the most topics or selection. Whether it is men's or women's soccer, down to the least year team, up to the national team, can never escape a topic - performance.
In Pu Wei's view, engaging in youth training should be a long-term process, step by step progress, rather than giving up the future for the sake of small immediate benefits, otherwise it will be too utilitarian.
Shanghai coach Qian Hui, known as the female Xu Genbao, was deeply moved by the fact that she had trained international players such as Zhang Ying, Ji Ting, Tang Jiali and Zhao Lina.
In a conversation with Coach Qian in 2020, she recalled a former student: "In training, this child was the best physically among those players. But once she played, she was always slow, timid and afraid to move forward. I encouraged her to be brave many times, but I really couldn't change it. Later, I really didn't kick out. I had to choose to continue my studies. Now I'm graduating from college."
Coincidentally, Pu Wei was one of a similar group of Chinese women's soccer players who studied abroad at their peak after the World Cup more than 20 years ago. She joined the Washington Freedom.
In comparison, less than 30% of players could study in the Big Five and in the United States. At that time, as many as 10 international soccer players went to the American professional league, which represents the highest level of the league. They could all receive many offers before transferring.
"Our study abroad at the time was basically a two-way street. Others could choose us and we could choose the club." Pu Wei said. There was nothing wrong with the vision of the American clubs. After studying in the U.S., many were able to get their feet wet and stand as starters.
There is no doubt that strength is the deciding factor.
However, the next few games were dismal but brought into question the significance of this study abroad?
The Chinese women's soccer team finished in the last 8 of the 2003 World Cup. At the 2004 Olympic Games, the Chinese women's soccer team failed to qualify.
Is studying abroad really a formality?
Pu Wei, who was a witness, recalls the scene and says it wasn't like that: "For one thing, a lot of the players were about to retire after studying abroad, and there wasn't enough time for them to show off, coinciding with the turnover of the old and the new."
Liu Ailing, who returned from her stay in the United States, announced her retirement at the end of 2002. Sun Wen also announced her retirement in 2003.
And what exactly is the value of studying abroad? How should China's women's soccer team catch up with the world?
"Studying abroad should be for yourself (to improve) and then you can have a team to improve. I hope that young players who have the opportunity will go out more and go anywhere, even if they can't reach their desired destination at once." This was Pu Wei's answer.
On the pyramid of professional soccer, very few people stand at the top and make the national team.
You may wish to set your aspirations for the end of your journey and use study abroad as a means of transportation to move forward. Some people choose to walk, some choose to bike, and some choose to fly. Each person's choice of platform and team affects the direction and distance to follow, and ultimately the time of arrival, sooner or later.
So don't change your rhythm just because someone else has long ago, choose the path that is right for you before you love the path you have chosen.
