In 2023, for the Chinese women's soccer team, it is a "college entrance examination" one after another. From the Women's World Cup in July and August, to the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September, and then to the qualifying rounds of the Paris Olympics in October, the three major international tournaments will be held in close succession. Coach Shui Qingxia and her team will face the double test of intensive schedule and strong opponents.
After a short break for the Chinese New Year, the Chinese women's soccer team started training in Guangzhou on January 26th and prepared to leave for Spain on February 10th for a warm-up match.
Facing the preparation for the three tournaments, the team's goals, and the help of overseas players to the team, these issues People's Daily Sports recently conducted an interview with Shui Qingxia.
1. What are the 2023 preparedness priorities and objectives?
Shui Qingxia: There are really a lot of challenges this year and we have three tournaments to deal with. For the team, every stage of the tournament is crucial, including the World Cup, Asian Games and Olympic qualifiers. The task is tough, but we strive to adjust to our best.
For the World Cup, we naturally expect to get out of the group and try to get into the top eight. Every game is not easy, but the goal is still to be clear and try to climb up. The Asian Games are on our doorstep, so of course we want to do well. The Olympic qualifiers are even more competitive with limited places available. I think the different stages of the tournament are crucial and must be fully planned and deployed.
2. How to position Chinese women's soccer in Asia and the world?
Shui Qingxia: Frankly speaking, even though we won the Asian Cup, we cannot claim to be the top team in Asia. The game of soccer is full of variables, but our strength is gradually improving. We also pay attention to European matches. Compared with European teams, we still have gaps in many aspects, which requires us to keep a clear mind and keep learning from strong teams to narrow the gap in technology, tactics and physical confrontation.
3. How can we help the players to relieve the pressure in the face of such an intensive competition?
Qingxia Shui: The team had a number in mind for the three races this year. We communicated in the meeting that this year, unlike previous years, all the matches are played in the same year. Therefore, the coaching staff will be stricter in training and we explain the situation to the players to reach a consensus. Above all, everyone must trust each other, the players trust me and I trust them. We have a unified goal to improve ourselves through the strictest daily training.
We don't anticipate what will happen in the past or the future, and it's hard to predict the final score of these three games. All we can do is prepare for everything and that's enough.
4. With the rapid development of world soccer, how can Chinese women's soccer keep up with the world trend?
Shui Qingxia: First of all, our league should make a leap on the original foundation, such as conversion offense in high-intensity confrontation. World soccer has changed a lot now, and the requirements for physical confrontation, technology and tactical level are much higher. I think we should first have a clear understanding and then try our best to keep up with it.
5. What is the perception of the increased interest in women's soccer?
Shui Qingxia: With the increased attention, players may face two situations. One is emotional fluctuation due to excessive pressure; the other is the impact of honor. I think mature players can adjust themselves in this situation and remain calm even when the applause is overwhelming. After all, the Asian Cup title is in the past, which represents the past, but success shows us that better goals can be achieved through hard work.
The road ahead may be even more bumpy, which means that in times of difficulties, we should still remain firm in our confidence and face them properly no matter what. The more applause there is, the more sober we should remain.
6. More and more women's soccer players choose to go to European leagues, how do you think about players studying abroad?
Shui Qingxia: I think the first step is to go out of the country, and the Chinese women's soccer team is also taking this path. Going out first allows the players to see the wider world and understand what the outside world is like. In the training process, the players can learn the training advantages of foreign teams, maintain a high intensity offense and defense conversion rhythm, the understanding of the game may be different. In addition, going abroad helps a lot to improve players' self-confidence, discovering their strengths through training, expanding them and finding ways to improve their weaknesses.
I want players to play at a high level when they go abroad. At the very least you have to play on the pitch so you can look outside of training and see how much of a challenge or pressure you can withstand in difficult situations.
