Late at night, late in the Beijing time zone, China's U17 women's soccer team wrote a new chapter in the World Cup by defeating Mexico's U17 women's soccer team with a thrilling 2-1 reversal in the first round of the group stage. Yin Lihong, the core of the midfield, was honored as the best player with her outstanding performance. With the drums beating, our U17 national women's soccer team's coach Wang Anzhi, captain Qiao Ruiqi and goalkeeper Liu Chen became the focus of media attention.
Facing the fluctuating performance after the opening match, Coach Wang Anzhi calmly analyzed: "As a team stepping onto the World Cup stage for the first time, the fluctuation is expected. In daily training and matches, I repeatedly emphasized the importance of running without the ball, reminded players to quickly counter-strike after losing the ball, and strengthened communication and team motivation. These habits have been our saviors in adversity."
Talking about the technical aspects of the team, Coach Wang Anzhi revealed, "Our fighting spirit and mental style deserve to be recognized, inheriting the spirit of 'Clanging Roses'. However, in terms of technical and tactical execution, we still have to improve, and we will summarize our experience and get ready for the next matches."
Captain Qiao Ruiqi believes that the Mexican team is stronger as a whole, stating, "We need to summarize their passing techniques and mentality adjustments."
Goalkeeper Liu Chen repeatedly defused close calls during the game, and when asked if she was satisfied with her performance, she responded humbly, "After a long period of training, I think these are the things we should have done. The game itself was full of pressure, and luckily we didn't let our opponents score first."
Toward the end of the interview, Liu Chen also shared his story of growing up, "I started practicing goalkeeping at the age of 12, and after almost a year of training, I had been selected to train with the ski team for almost a year. Eventually, I realized that my love for soccer was more than enough, so I returned to the soccer path."
