On the occasion of 3-8 "Goddess Day" in spring, all walks of life have paid tribute to every woman, and the Chinese soccer world is no exception. Numerous Chinese Super League teams have launched themed posters, and the official social media of the Chinese women's soccer team has even adopted the theme of "Salute to Her Who Loves Soccer" to show the elegance of female soccer players. When it comes to the goddesses of China's soccer field, how can we not mention the Chinese women's soccer players who won the Asian Cup last month? After the excitement of winning the Asian Cup, how are these female soccer goddesses doing these days?
In fact, during this period of time, the Chinese women's soccer team is still a lot of good news. For example, Zhang Linyan, the 23-year-old starlet who pulled a point back for her team in the final, was honored as the "38 Red Flag Woman" of Sichuan Province. And in the Scottish Women's Premier League, Celtic beat Aberdeen 3:0 in the game, Shen Mengyu started and contributed an assist. Since joining Celtic, Shen Mengyu has contributed 3 goals and 5 assists, proving her strength in the Scottish league.
In addition, the Chinese women's soccer team has added a new member to its list of overseas stay. Former Chinese U20 women's soccer player Tu Linli left Taylor University to join Icelandic First Division team FHL, officially becoming a professional player. Born in 1999, Tu Linli was selected for the U17 and U20 women's soccer teams, won the Youth Olympic Games on behalf of the Chinese women's soccer team, and went to the United States in 2018 to enter Taylor University, with outstanding performance in recent years. During her time at Taylor University, she made 49 appearances, 48 starts, 152 shots, 76 hits and 18 goals.
In interviews, the girls of the women's soccer team repeatedly emphasized the importance of staying in the ocean. Player Xiao Yuyi said, "The intensity of training and competition in Europe is higher than at home, and players who stay in the ocean will be more confident and flamboyant when they return to China." Captain Wang Shanshan also said: "I think it's good for young players to go abroad, they can learn a lot abroad, confrontation is stronger, self-management and requirements will be different. More young people going out will be more favorable to the future development of women's football."
However, such attention did not make the women's soccer girls complacent. They said that despite the criticism and abuse they received when they lost at the Olympics, the attention they received from the Internet was just a momentary buzz. They are looking forward to more practical and long-lasting support. As Wang Frost said, she hopes that women's soccer is not just a tool used by netizens to scold men's soccer.
Recent news surrounding women's soccer has been worrisome. The National Women's Football Championship, which was scheduled to be held from March 5 to 18 at the Hai Ridge Training Base in Kunming, Yunnan Province, was forced to be postponed due to financial problems. Many soccer teams have indicated that they will not be able to participate in the tournament, including the Guangzhou women's soccer team, which has been at a standstill for a long time due to financial problems, and whose captain, Zhang Linyan, has been forced to apply to leave the team. Nevertheless, it is still unknown whether the women's soccer championship can be held this year.
However, there are also clubs that take action for players' rights and future. In this year's Asian Cup winning China team, there are five players from the Wuhan women's soccer team. For this reason, the Wuhan Football Association (WFA) has developed a series of initiatives for the girls, including a system of "rewarding excellence and penalizing laziness" for international players - increasing the salaries of those who are selected for the national team, and decreasing the salaries of those who fail to continue to be selected. At the same time, the club also rewarded international players who fought for their country in major international tournaments, and severely penalized those who "did not contribute", and even canceled the qualification of the league for serious cases.
In order to solve the worries of the players, Wuhan women's football team also introduced the "national footballer injury insurance" system. For international players injured in the national campaign, the club will not only award them, but also arrange for them to go to the international top sports rehabilitation hospital for treatment. For the life after retirement, Wuhan women's soccer also has thoughtful arrangements. It is understood that Wuhan Women's Football Club has helped more than sixty retired athletes to solve the problem of employment placement. In order to make China's women's soccer team sustainable development, perhaps more places need to pay efforts for women's soccer.
