According to the plan, the Chinese women's football team has completed a month-long intensive training in Qingdao, and is expected to take off from Qingdao on July 17th on the same special flight as our U23 men's football team, flying directly to Nagoya, Japan, to take part in the upcoming East Asian Cup Football Championship. Despite the success of our women's soccer team in winning the Asian Cup in February, according to sources, the CFA has not set a specific performance target for this tournament.
The team's goal is to "go all out to get good results, gain experience in international competitions, and lay a solid foundation for the upcoming Asian Games and next year's World Cup".
In order to prepare for the new cycle of important tournaments, the Chinese women's soccer team plans to fly directly from Japan to the United States on July 28, that is, after the end of the East Asian Cup, for a four to five weeks of training, during which it will play at least 10 warm-up matches with the U.S. Women's Professional Major League Soccer team. In addition to Tang Jiali, who has already returned home, five players playing for overseas clubs, including Shen Menglu, Shen Mengyu, Yang Shuhui, Zhao Yujie and Tu Linli, will also join the team in the United States.
The Chinese women's soccer team regrouped in Qingdao on June 11 to prepare for the new East Asian Cup soccer tournament to be held in Japan in late July. Despite the organizing committee's restriction on the number of players on the participating teams, 35 players showed up at the training base in Qingdao. This is because the Chinese women's soccer team will also go to the United States for training and matches after participating in the East Asian Cup.
As the champion of this year's Asian Cup, what are the goals of the Chinese women's soccer team on this trip? According to the Beijing Youth Daily reporter, the Chinese Football Association, from the perspective of supporting and cooperating with the team's preparation for the new cycle, did not put forward specific achievements or ranking requirements for the women's football team on this trip, but this does not mean that the team does not have a goal to strive for. It is reported that the next, China's women's football preparation will focus on playing well in the Asian Games and the World Cup, so this East Asia Cup is regarded as the team's impact on the two competitions of the key practice. "Going all out, accumulating experience in international matches, and laying a solid foundation for the Asian Games and the World Cup" has become the goal of the whole team in this trip to the East.
Due to the urgency of the Asian Games and World Cup preparations, the Chinese women's soccer team has implemented a series of overseas stretches and warm-up programs with the strong support of the Chinese Football Association (CFA). According to the plan, the team will fly directly from Japan to the United States on July 28, followed by four to five weeks of training in the United States. Although affected by the two teams "schedule conflict", the Chinese women's soccer team and the U.S. women's soccer team's direct warm-up may be difficult to realize. But in the United States, the team will still participate in 10 to 15 warm-up matches, most of the opponents for the U.S. women's professional Major League Soccer team, which will ensure the quality of the warm-up matches.
Considering the long cycle of tournaments and training in the next phase, head coach Shui Qingxia decided to lead as many players as possible on the tour. In addition to the 35 players who have already arrived for training, six more players who play for overseas clubs will also be arriving.
Of the six, only Tang Jiali, who played for Premier League Tottenham Hotspur last season, is with the team for the East Asian Cup. It is reported that Tang Jiali has basically confirmed her departure from Tottenham Hotspur for a transfer at the end of the European club's 2021 to 2022 season. She has recently flown to Chengdu from London, England, and has been briefly reunited with her family after completing the medical quarantine observation required by the anti-epidemic regulations. She will then travel to Qingdao to join the Chinese women's soccer team in early July.
The other five players playing for overseas clubs, Shen Mengyu (Celtic), Zhao Yujie (University of Florida), Yang Shuhui (Suvarajo), Tu Linli (Icelandic FHL), and Shen Menglu (Euron Athletic) will join the Chinese women's soccer team directly in the United States at the end of July.
It is reported that the Chinese women's soccer team's entry point in the United States is likely to be Los Angeles or San Francisco. The CFA has been assisting the team with various travel arrangements. Although the visit will have an impact on the new phase of the Women's Super League, resulting in the postponement of the tournament until October. However, by participating in the East Asia Cup consecutively and going to the U.S. to participate in a number of warm-up matches, the quality and efficiency of China's women's soccer team's preparation for the new cycle will be significantly improved. This also reflects that the CFA's support for women's soccer is no less than that of men's soccer, which is in fact an important guarantee for China's women's soccer to continue to develop in a virtuous cycle.
