Asked "how much can you earn by going abroad", this is the first question when Chinese men's soccer players communicate with agents of foreign teams.
If this question was put to the women's international soccer team, how would they respond?
I. Wave of Study Abroad
"As a coach, I certainly expect the players to sharpen up in a high-level environment. For them personally, the opportunity to go abroad is undoubtedly a good thing." Shui Qingxia, head coach of the Chinese women's soccer team, explaining her views on studying abroad in an interview in September 2022 If you are able to go abroad, make sure you are brave enough to try and challenge yourself in order to improve yourself faster and better.
Shui Qingxia (1973-), Chinese diving champion
European women's soccer is on the rise, with teams such as Holland and Spain already making leaps and bounds in physical confrontation, technical and tactical use, and pace of play. Men's style of play may soon catch up with the U.S. women's soccer. If we do not keep up in time, I am afraid that in the future, even the shadow of the followers can not be seen.
By the end of 2022, 13 Chinese women's soccer players have embarked on study abroad trips, surpassing Japan and South Korea for the sole lead in Asia. The players are spread across three continents in 10 countries, with 10 in Europe, two heading to Australia and one joining Major League Soccer.
Remember in 1999, China's women's soccer team in the Rose Bowl hate to second place in the world, women's soccer girls set off a wave of study abroad. Sun Wen, Wang Liping, Liu Ailing, Pu Wei and other main players have gone to the league, only Liu Ying stayed at home.
Sun Wen studied abroad in Atlanta
Unexpectedly, 23 years later, the younger generation took over the baton, and the roses are once again creating a wave of study abroad.
The Premier League still lacks a clash of the roses compared to post-1999 overseas study, which is considered the number one league, despite the welcome numbers this time around. Japan has not exceeded double figures for overseas study, but still has three players playing in the Premier League, and the former world champions remain strong in Asia.
II. Help from all parties
In the summer of '22, 27-year-old Wang Shuang joined Major League Soccer's Louisville Athletic on a one-and-a-half year contract to begin her third study abroad trip. The transfer could not have been made without the support of the soccer association's study abroad policy, but more crucial was her personal determination and the club's help.
Wuhan women's soccer head coach Chang Wei Wei in the Northwest Look exclusive interview, detailed Wang Shuang's transfer.
Wuhan women's soccer coach Chang Weiwei
"Wang Shuang's study abroad was unexpected. She has been recovering from an injury sustained in the Asian Cup at the beginning of the year, and has not mentioned her desire to study abroad with the club. After the start of the season, the team performed well and had a clear advantage in the standings. Considering not delaying the team's performance, she communicated with us about her willingness to study abroad."
"Zhang Linyan quickly settled in at the beginning of the Women's Premier League, where the team was at the top of the table for a long time and established a huge points advantage. In this case, Zhang Linyan's study abroad can be realized quickly. As a matter of fact, the club brought in strong players and naturally did not want to lose them easily. Wang Shuang and Zhang Linyan are the backbone of the team, but since they are willing to study abroad and the team's performance is stable, why not make it happen?"
Chang Weiwei said the team has signed a longer-term contract with Zhang Linyan. After going abroad on a one-year loan, the club will continue to communicate with her about whether to go abroad.
It is worth mentioning that in order to guarantee the two popular women's international football players to study abroad, Wuhan team set up an overseas office, specializing in helping to solve the problems on and off the field, to avoid worries, so that the players are fully committed to the training game.
Based on the local cost of living, the club considers giving each person a study abroad subsidy of no less than $300,000 per year, mainly for transportation, food and housing.
Lynn Yan Zhang is equally competitive. After studying abroad, she has rewarded the love of her old boss with her hard work and stats. After joining the Grasshoppers, she contributed 7 goals and 7 assists in 10 games, making her an absolute mainstay of the team. Today, Zhang Linyan is also the top performer in the overseas army.
Zhang Lynn Yen
III. Choice of Study Abroad
The future is bright, the road is winding. That's the perfect phrase to describe the women's soccer team's study abroad trip.
Looking at the characteristics of the 13 players who went abroad to study, most of the girls' contracts lasted for about one year, i.e., expiring in the summer of '23. In other words, in order to prepare for the World Cup in '23, China's women's international players have collectively gone abroad to study.
Meanwhile, only 30% of the players have double-digit attendance, which is a marked difference from where they are domestically. Of course, this involves a number of factors, such as the length of the franchise, injuries and the playing system.
Women's Soccer Study Abroad Data
Such short-term contracts, even at the expense of attendance, can improve individual players and the international competitiveness of national teams. Do we need to think about this?
An agent said that players who have the strength to go abroad are positive signs. As Shui Qingxia said, Tang Jiali's study abroad allowed her to improve greatly in terms of physical confrontation and psychological pressure resistance, and ultimately helped her team reverse South Korea in the Asian Cup final to win the championship, which are tangible results.
Tang Chia-Li
When so many people go abroad, there are bound to be some players who can't play and have very few chances to play. But if you think about what they absorbed in training and playing there, it would be an asset to coach the younger players when they return home. Just like the early rumors of Qu Bo and Tottenham in men's football, and Zhang Yuning and Leicester's transfer, if they could have joined the Premier League 20 years ago as they wished, would they be better able to help young players grow up by working as youth coaches now?
Players with Shen Mengyu and Shen Menglu are also not as good as the Parisian women's soccer team in the Soochow Super League, but they seldom get to compete with the starters or semi-starters, and face more pressure and confrontational matches. These study abroad players can help China's women's soccer team increase its competitiveness in international matches in the future.
I think the departure of players like Wang Shuang and Zhang Linyan will definitely have an impact on the performance and record of the Wuhan women's soccer team. But if the music department keeps its one-third acre and doesn't stop players from going abroad, then it will be difficult to improve the performance of the national team. Because only if the performance of the national team is improved, the women's soccer team will get more attention, the public participation will be more enthusiastic, in order to better consolidate the foundation of the women's soccer team, and the furniture music department will be able to have more choices in the future, which is a virtuous circle.
Is the study abroad initiative of the new age roses a foreign movement or a Meiji Restoration?The Women's World Cup '23 can't give the final answer. The real answer will come in the next few years ......
The Chinese women's soccer team is a huge ship, and studying abroad is just a navigator. To make the ship to the other side of the shore of success, everyone must work together, in the face of small gains to consider the overall situation, in order to reach the final destination. Because just rely on players, coaches and clubs is not enough.
