Amazing.
women's soccer
A new star in the world, Zhang Linyan, and a famous soccer player.
David Beckham (1975-), British midfield footballer
A new chapter in the saga of the continuation of the
Back in 2013, at the age of 12, Zhang Linyan asked her idol in a program
David Beckham (1975-), British midfield footballer
Confession of Heart: "I aspire to lead the Chinese national women's soccer team beyond Sun Wen's era and win the World Cup."
Time flies to February 6, 2022, the Asian Cup final, the Chinese women's football team and South Korea. Facing a 0:2 deficit in the first half, Zhang Linyan came on as a substitute. A dramatic scene appeared -
In just 11 minutes, she not only made a penalty kick, but also scored an "unbelievable" header to help China quickly equalize the score. In the end, the Chinese team won the Asian Cup with a 3:2 reversal!
After 16 years, the Chinese women's soccer team once again reached the top of Asia, and both head coach Shui Qingxia and 21-year-old Zhang Linyan reaped numerous praises. Fans lamented, "It's hard to imagine that a young player with a height of only 1.54 meters can explode with such great energy."
David Beckham (1975-), British midfield footballer
She also couldn't help but post a "call" for her: "Lin Yan, I remember our meeting in 2013. It's great that your hard work has paid off and you've achieved what you wanted. Once again, congratulations on the win!"
For her part, Zhang Linyan responded, "Wow, thank you Uncle Bei for remembering me and giving me the signed soccer ball that I've been collecting at home, and I'll continue to work hard."
-Zhang Lin Yan and
David Beckham (1975-), British midfield footballer
"Fantasy Link" on Twitter.
This brief conversation spanning nine years instantly touched countless netizens. However, Zhang Linyan knows that behind the flowers and applause is the accumulation of sweat and tears.
February 8, China's women's official microblogging announced that Zhang Linyan won the 2022 India Asian Cup final "future star", with the text said: "small body contains big energy, the future can be expected."
From Earthquake Victims to Green Fields
Recently, a video sparked a lot of attention - the
In the 2018 U20 Women's World Cup, China was held to a last-minute draw and had no chance of making it out of the tournament. In the post-match interview, Zhang Linyan tearfully said:
"As long as I can wear the national team's uniform again, I will do my best to fight and fight for her (my country)."
This video has touched countless people and witnessed Zhang Linyan's love for soccer.
As early as 12 years old, Zhang Linyan wrote on the dormitory table: "I must enter the national team." On her way to soccer, the talent soon appeared - in Sichuan Province, the 2001 age group of the Budding Cup, the team scored 58 goals, Zhang Linyan alone scored 48 ......
In the Asian Cup final on February 6, to the surprise of the crowd, the diminutive Zhang Linyan broke the South Korean goal with a header!
Later, Zhang Linyan said in an interview, "Shui Guan sent me on the field just to go on offense." "There was nothing serious at the time, going up there was just letting go and fighting, just thinking about the offense and putting myself out there."
Zhang Linyan really "played out", become a new star of the Chinese women's soccer team, and this is perhaps even her family did not expect.
On January 16, 2001, Zhang Linyan was born into an ordinary family in Jiangyou, Sichuan Province. His father, Zhang Shouwu, is a chef, specializing in pickled fresh rabbit and dry-pot chicken with fat intestines. He is a fan, but can't play soccer.
In order to support the family, Zhang Shouwu and his wife work outside all year round. Zhang Linyan has become a "left-behind child" and is mainly accompanied by her grandmother.
In the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, Jiangyou was only 50 kilometers away from the epicenter, and 90% of the houses in seven towns collapsed. Zhang Linyan, who had just started first grade, was lucky enough to escape and live in a relief tent with her grandmother. It was during the post-disaster reconstruction process that she first touched a soccer ball.
At that time, the exploration and construction of the women's soccer youth training system became an important part of the local spiritual reconstruction, led by Jiangyou No. 1 Middle School (hereinafter referred to as Jiangyou No. 1 Middle School).
At the beginning of 2009, Wen Rong, the coach of Jiangyou No. 1 Middle School girls' soccer team, went to the Garden Elementary School where Zhang Linyan was studying to select players. Outside the temporary boarding house, Zhang Linyan, who was only about 1 meter 3, was pushed in front of Wen Rong.
"Dolls a few years older than her can't outrun her." A teacher told Wenrong.
-Garden Elementary School's current playground signage bears a picture of Lynn Yan Zhang.
In the open space in front of the boarding house, Wen Rong asked us to take a standing long jump test, and Zhang Linyan jumped more than 2 meters in a while. Her 30-meter run was also far better than others of her age. Wen Rong waved his hand, "Come on kids, play soccer!"
That's how Zhang Linyan began her soccer journey, attending training every Saturday and Sunday for free - she was the youngest of more than 40 girls recruited after the earthquake at Jiangyou No. 1 Middle School.
Lack of coaches, lack of equipment, lack of space, the school is still everywhere in the temporary establishment of tents and cubicles ...... support Zhang Linyan, only love and dreams. In the words of Wen Rong, in this case can still play soccer, is a kind of enjoyment and luxury, more should be positive and optimistic about life, know the difficulties and progress.
-Coach Wen Rong (far right) watches childhood Zhang Linyan (far left) practice.
"The child played soccer very hard and got a tan. But the more she played, the more she loved it, and she had a smile on her face every day. It was after the earthquake, and all aspects of life suffered a lot of difficulties, but seeing her happy, the whole family was full of vigor." Zhang Linyan's mother recalls.
In Zhang Linyan's own opinion, soccer is "something that makes people happy." "If soccer were a person, one would want to make soccer a special, special, special friend."
-In 2017, Zhang Linyan sent microblogging to record his happiness in the green field, with the text: may be full of a thousand sails, return is still the year of 16 years old.
He's a pussy off the field, but he works hard on the field.
In 2012, 11-year-old Zhang Linyan was selected by the Jiangyou women's soccer team to attend the Guangzhou Evergrande Real Madrid Soccer School, and was the only free student in Sichuan Province that year.
The following year, Zhang Linyan "jumped up" into the Chinese women's U14 national junior team and made a splash at the AFC Under-16 Championships in Nanjing, helping the team to a third-place finish.
As a result of years of practice, the dark-skinned Zhang Linyan is affectionately known as the "black girl" by her teammates. "Which one of you is the best soccer player?" "The black girl!" An early CCTV interview recorded the innocent interaction between Zhang Linyan and her teammates.
On camera, a teammate saw Zhang Linyan showing a slightly shy smile and cupped her face, "Black sister toothpaste, one squeeze, one Biao; Chinese famous brand, well-known trademark!"
-CCTV interview with Zhang Linyan and teammates.
Zhang Linyan's name is gradually making a name for itself in youth soccer circles. But behind the so-called "genius", there is still a different kind of hard work and dedication.
She has been training with the last national junior team, which is two years older than she is. in early 2014, in preparation for the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing in August, the national junior team had extra physical training every night, with players completing 20 400-meter dashes.
High-intensity training is also a huge challenge for Zhang Linyan, who hugs her teammates and weeps silently as soon as the stadium lights are turned off. But even so, she never fell behind in her training.
The captain of the team at the time, Tu Linli, commented that Zhang Linyan loves to be pampered and likes everyone to spoil her, but when it comes to the court, she is "the one who works the hardest".
Coaches, teammates, and even the team doctor, after every training session, the team would be pulled down one by one by Zhang Linyan to ask questions. "What am I not playing well? Where do I need to improve?" A lot of people are Zhang Linyan "asked tired".
Zhang Linyan has the habit of keeping a training diary. However, what she writes down every day are flaws and deficiencies, and she can often write about seven or eight of her flaws after a training session.
Former women's national team "goalkeeper", then head coach of the national junior team Gao Hong could not stand it, let her also write down her own merits, "self-encouragement". Zhang Linyan was reluctant to do so, and still wrote down the flaws: "I think this is all I can do."
As self-disciplined as she is, even as a Sichuanese, she doesn't eat spicy food, and she never eats junk food. For example, some team members like to eat cooked food such as duck, she does not eat, and actively avoid the intake of additives.
-Teenage Zhang Lin Yan.
The Light Chaser Becomes "Light"
Women's soccer star Sun Wen has been plagued by injuries, and teenage fame Zhang Linyan has not escaped the clutches of injury.
In January 2016, Zhang Linyan traveled to the National Women's U16 Championship held in Yunnan as a player of Evergrande Football School. During a scramble, her foot was crushed by the opposing goalkeeper and her right fibula was fractured on the spot.
In the photos that came out of the race, Zhang Linyan, who "doesn't want us to worry", is still trying to keep a smile on her face. All she could think about was not the pain, but "I'm sure I'll have to rest for a few months (and won't be able to practice)". It was only when she arrived at the hospital that she realized the pain and couldn't hold back her tears.
Three days later, Zhang Linyan in Sichuan Orthopaedic Hospital successfully completed the operation, but the ensuing recovery made her feel immense torment - "should soon be able to play" expectations again and again failed, she could not walk on the ground for four months, "the foot is swollen when you walk". "She could not walk on the ground for four months, and her feet swelled up when she walked.
Doctors told coach Gao Hong that Zhang Linyan's fracture area was damaged by the surrounding tissues, and I am afraid that she will never be able to return to the level of her early years. Zhang Linyan's mother also felt sorry for her daughter and advised her to stop playing soccer. Zhang Linyan's cultural achievements are good, she felt that her daughter choose the traditional path of college entrance exams and university, can also have a good future.
During this difficult period, the idea of "just wanting to play soccer" supported Zhang Linyan.
She documented her recovery: first time off the ground, first time touching the ball, first time back on the turf, first time removing the plate ...... "There's no way around it, I just love it." She said, "There were definitely moments of particular sadness, but didn't think about giving up."
-Lynn Yan Zhang in recovery, 2016.
At the beginning of 2017, Zhang Linyan followed the National Games preseason back to the field. She confessed that she was especially scared when she first started playing, and she couldn't help avoiding any confrontation. By May and June, the feeling slowly came back.
July 16, Weifang Cup final, China U16 against the U.S. U16, and finally won with a score of 5:4 - in the second half of the final, the coach was going to replace the physical strength of Zhang Linyan rest, but she insisted on playing the whole game. In the end, she announced her return with a kill shot that decided the championship.
In October 2018, the Yongchuan Women's Soccer Four Nations Tournament kicked off with China playing Finland in the final. Zhang Linyan made her first appearance on behalf of the adult women's national soccer team, and it was with the penalty kick she created that China won the title with a 2:1 victory over their opponents.
However, in a scramble at the end of the game, Zhang Linyan was injured again and had to travel to Germany for treatment and recovery after the game. This makes Zhang Linyan once doubt their own choice of work: "obviously very hard, why me again?"
This recuperation took Zhang Linyan more than half a year. To relieve her loneliness, she learned to cook and watched interviews with women's soccer player Ma Xiaoxu and others. Ma Xiaoxu, once considered a "genius", suffered three serious knee cruciate ligament tears and is still struggling on the pitch.
"It's even more determined to come back. Even though it's lonely, there are still so many people trying. All I can do is try to recover, come back early and find the feeling of playing soccer. I don't know what I'll play like after that, but it's good to try." Zhang Linyan said.
In the 2021 season, Zhang Linyan represented Guangzhou Women's Soccer in the Women's League A and helped the team win the second place in the league, scoring 9 goals and becoming the top scorer in the Women's League A. She also scored 9 goals and became the best scorer in the Women's League.
China's women's national team head coach Shui Qingxia said, Zhang Linyan was still in the Beijing team, she felt that "this child talent is relatively strong". Later, when she became the national team coach, she recruited Zhang Linyan as a young player into the team to train and observe. Zhang Linyan also did very well in training, thus becoming the "secret weapon" of the Asian Cup.
After the end of the Asian Cup journey, Zhang Lin Yan in microblogging sentiments: "a great experience, thank you for our support and trust, in this group really feel very happy ......"
Talking about this championship, the young woman also showed a calm and mature side. She said that the championship is an incentive as well as a pressure to put forward higher requirements for the team. The goal of the Chinese women's soccer team is to walk well every day, and strive to narrow the distance with the European and American women's soccer team.
-Zhang Linyan (right) and Shui Qingxia after winning the Asia Cup.
From the age of 8 to 21, Zhang Linyan has written a story of "Light chasers become light" with her never-say-die attitude. And her legend may have just begun.
Some sources: China Women's Football Association, Xinhua News Agency, Tencent Sports, etc.
