In the first match of the East Asia Cup, the Chinese women's soccer team defeated the Chinese Taipei Women's Soccer Team by a score of 2-0, thanks to Zhang Linyan's goal and the opponent's unfortunate oolong goal. Although the Chinese women's soccer team showed a clear advantage during the game, frequent passing errors and a slightly low state of mind make people worry about the challenge they will face against Japan and South Korea and other strong teams.
Despite viewing the East Asia Cup as a stage to work out the team, Coach Shui Qingxia made it clear before the tournament that the priority was to beat the opposition, followed by working out the young players.
In this match, Shui Qingxia boldly activated three post-00 players, Zhang Linyan, in addition to newcomers Wang Linlin and Wan Jiayao, who played for her for the first time. Although Wan Jiayao is used to playing in the center back position, she was placed in the left back position in this game, which is the position that Shui Qingxia focuses on. She was active in the game, stepping in to assist on several occasions.
After the match, Wan Jiayao, a junior women's soccer player who made her debut, confessed that she was very nervous in the first five minutes, but then gradually adapted to the rhythm of the game. Coach Shui Qingxia encouraged them to be bold and confident. Wang Linlin also said that she entered the state faster and hoped to have more opportunities to show her strength as a center back.
Zhang Linyan, the team's goal scorer, broke the goal from a small angle after receiving a pass from Wang Shanshan in the 11th minute of the first half, but unfortunately, she missed another one-touch chance in the first half. After the match, she also said she needed to summarize her performance.
Despite the victory, the outside world did not seem to be satisfied with the performance of the Chinese women's soccer team, believing that the opponent was weak and the game was not exciting enough.
The increase of mistakes in the game showed the inadequacy of the Chinese women's soccer team in terms of offense and defense transition and physical confrontation. Although a number of players came on as substitutes in the second half, the overall performance still needs to be improved.
Sun Wen pointed out in an interview that China's women's soccer team must strengthen the work of staying in the ocean and youth training if they want to not look passive in the confrontation with strong teams such as Japan and South Korea. Players need to train themselves through high-level matches, while youth training is long-term and basic work.
Currently, Zhang Linyan has confirmed to join the Swiss team Grasshopper and started her journey to stay in the world. Coach Shui Qingxia was satisfied with the result of the match, but agreed that the process still has a lot to be summarized and adjusted.
(Note: The pictures in this article are schematic; the actual pictures are based on the original links.)
