Shen Monroe, the 19-year-old Chinese striker, has officially stepped into the Portuguese sport.
Following Wang Frost's sparkling performance at Ligue 1's Grand Paris, Shen Menglu also embarked on a journey to stay in China with the glory of Miss Football Asia.
On July 12, Sporting Portugal officially announced that it had signed a three-year contract with Shen Menglu, which opened the career of the national youth player.
Sporting Portugal, a team that has produced soccer superstars such as Cairo and Figo, has a women's soccer team that is also competitive in the league. Shen Monroe is looking forward to and excited about her future in the region.
"I went into soccer with the mindset of go out and stay."
In an interview, Shen revealed her small goal.
Before the age of 18, Shen Menglu had the idea of staying abroad. A few days before the official announcement of her stay, she had already arrived at the club to start a new chapter of her career.
"I have completed my physical and registration and expect to begin my official pre-season preparations next week." Shen Monroe said.
She said that in the first few days after arriving at the club, the director and her teammates showed her around the club, explaining the model and growth process, and the coaching team was very enthusiastic.
Regarding the new life, Shen Menglu is both a little apprehensive and full of expectations: "Nervousness is definitely there, but more excited and yearning. My teammates are especially warm and friendly, I hope I can integrate as soon as possible, to adapt to the new mode of playing football."
Shen Menglu, 19, is one of the most talked-about stars in Chinese women's soccer, having been promoted to the first team of Jiangsu Women's Soccer in the 2020 season and having made an appearance in the Women's Super League.
At the national team level, she has been a member of national team squads at all levels, from National Junior to National Youth.
The idea of staying in the world actually came up long before his 18th birthday.
"I have long had the idea and plan to play abroad. In the past, I always followed the national youth and national youth training abroad, and several foreign clubs have played, and I like the atmosphere of foreign soccer. Later, the CFA also vigorously advocated playing overseas, which strengthened my belief in playing abroad."
Shen Monroe signed with Sporting Portugal.
Fighting to get past the language barrier
Shen Monroe said she had planned to play abroad in early 2020, but had to postpone it due to the spread of the epidemic around the world.
During this special period, she has not been idle, in addition to insisting on training to maintain her athletic condition, she has also prepared for her future life in the ocean by taking online language learning classes, getting a driver's license, and learning to cook at home.
"Because of the impact of the epidemic and other factors, it didn't go well initially, and the process was actually quite tortuous." Luckily, with the assistance of her agency, IMEI SPORTS, Shen Monroe was eventually able to set foot in Europe, and the company even provided her with an interpreter to help her adapt to the environment and life overseas.
But Shen Monroe will also quickly scramble to get over the speech barrier and integrate into the local league.
The Portuguese sports salon previously known as Sporting Lisbon, including Figo, Crow, Nani, Moutinho and a large number of international superstars have come out from here, and in the women's soccer level, this team is also a domestic power.
Regarding the situation related to this unit, Shen Monroe also did a lot of homework: "The team has been ranked first last season, but unfortunately lost to Benfica in the final round and came second."
"The club has all the right equipment and facilities, and the youth training base is called the Cristiano Ronaldo Football Academy, and rumor has it that Crow has a sponsorship here. This season I expect to assist the team to get better results and contribute my part."
Shen Monroe said the team has a great atmosphere up and down the field.
Get out, stay in.
As a "00" player, Shen Menglu's body has the vitality and impetus belonging to the young people, the curiosity and desire for the atmosphere of European women's football is one of the reasons why she made up her mind to stay in the ocean.
But while she is looking forward to the future, she is also ready to take one step at a time: "I'm looking forward to competing here, and I hope to be able to play with my own characteristics and abilities. But first of all, I have to sink my teeth into every class and do a good job of training, get used to the soccer atmosphere here, and then seize every opportunity to compete to show myself."
Regarding her future goals, Shen Monroe describes them in six words - go out and stay.
"It's not easy to play abroad, and it's even harder to be able to keep playing abroad for a long time."
"In the future, it would be best if I could go to the Premier League and Ligue 1. It is my ultimate goal to play for a long time in the top European clubs, like Asian player models like Ji Xiaoran and Kumagai Sashi."
And when it comes to their idols in women's international soccer, Shen Menglu mentioned the names of several Chinese women's soccer elders: Wang Frost, Zhang Xin, Tang Jiali ......
Regarding the Chinese women's soccer team, which will be going to the Tokyo Olympics, Shen Menglu said she will also be cheering for her sisters from thousands of miles away.
In the future, she would also like to be like these elders, wearing the Chinese women's soccer robes appear in the top competition stage for the country to win:
"My goal is to keep improving myself, and through the experience of working on the field in Europe, I will be able to take over the baton from my sisters in the current national team, and make my best contribution to Chinese women's soccer."
