Women's soccer team under Shui Qingxia sails to the top eight of the World Cup. The latest from Xinhua.
Reporter: Ji Yu
On February 14th, 19:00, the Chinese women's soccer team debuted their first overseas training, challenging Real Betis women's soccer team of Spain. Wang Shanshan and Fang Jie each made a contribution to help the Chinese women's soccer team win 2:1.
This victory is a test of the recent training results of the Chinese women's soccer team. Next, the girls will meet three warm-up matches. For the women's soccer team which is tasked with the mission of "Three Competitions", winning or losing is not the first priority, but familiarizing with the tactics of the opponents, finding out the deficiencies, and improving oneself is the key.
Warm-ups can't be ignored
In 2023, China's women's soccer team will compete in the Women's World Cup, Hangzhou Asian Games and Paris Olympic Games qualifiers, the pressure to prepare for the war is enormous. To prepare for the war, the women's football team organized a domestic training session at the end of last year.
On January 26, the Chinese women's soccer team assembled in Guangzhou to prepare for the overseas training. on the evening of February 11, the team arrived in Marbella, Spain, the official opening of overseas training.
According to the plan, the Chinese women's soccer team will play four warm-up matches in Spain. In addition to the battle of Betis on the night of the 14th, the team will also play against Sweden, Velva and Ireland women's soccer.
Real Betis is ranked in the lower reaches of the Spanish Women's Premier League, and this victory is just a small step in the warm-up for the Chinese women's soccer team. Next, the real test has just begun.
In the early morning of February 17, Beijing time, China's women's football team will usher in the Swedish women's football team, the opponent is strong, ranked third in the world. This warm-up match will be a litmus test for the overall strength of the Chinese women's soccer team.
England women's soccer team, as one of the opponents in the group stage of the World Cup, has the same FIFA points as China's women's soccer team. In this warm-up match, the Chinese women's soccer team will regard it as a "preview" of the match with the England women's soccer team.
Next, the Chinese women's soccer team will face the middle of the league, Velva women's soccer team and the world's 23rd ranked Ireland women's soccer team. Although the ranking is not superior, but the law of "no weak team in Europe" reminds the Chinese team not to take the enemy lightly.
Seeds of Study Abroad Blossom Overseas
The Chinese women's soccer team has realized "going abroad" both in terms of players and training. Even though some of the players have finished their studies early, there are still more than 10 Chinese girls working out all over the world.
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has held a meeting to emphasize support for players to study abroad. In the second half of last year, there was a surge in the number of women's soccer players studying abroad, with more than a dozen players going to Europe, Australia, the United States and other places for further study.
Players such as Li Mengwen, Zhang Linyan, Shen Mengyu and Yang Lina, who play for European clubs, as well as Wu Chengshu, who plays in the Australian Women's Premier League, will join the team in Spain.
The time has finally come to harvest these study abroad seeds.
Drawing on the experience of men's soccer, European women's soccer has surged to take the place of the United States. Promoting women's soccer to study abroad will help players adapt quickly to high-intensity games and avoid losses at the World Cup.
The four warm-up matches in Spain will be an important way for the Chinese women's soccer team to learn about the strongest teams in Europe and improve themselves. Every match is worth taking seriously.
Shui Qingxia: testing training results with competitions
Shui Qingxia linked the overseas training with the World Cup, emphasizing that through the game to test the results of training, "which aspects are worse, which aspects are worse, these can only be reflected through the game."
After the low point of the Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese women's soccer team quickly adjusted to win the 2022 Women's Asian Cup, after 16 years. In order to gain a foothold on a bigger stage, the Chinese women's soccer team must get out of its "comfort zone".
In the Women's World Cup this July, the Chinese women's soccer team will face fierce competition from European powerhouses such as England and Denmark. Shui Qingxia has high hopes for the team and expects the Chinese women's soccer team to try to reach the top eight.
Facing stronger European teams, Chinese women's soccer is not without a "winning formula". Playing local cooperation, overall joint defense, joint attack, the Chinese women's football team is expected to create surprises.
