Since the age of 22, Wu Haiyan has shouldered the responsibility of China's
women's soccer
As the captain of the national team, how does she balance the pressure and responsibility on the field? How does she turn challenges into motivation and where does her optimism come from? What are her expectations for the opportunities and future challenges of the Tokyo Olympics?
As a soccer player, Wu Haiyan has experienced epiphanies in her life that are hard to reach by ordinary people. For example, the unspeakable joy of winning a game, the total concentration on the pitch, the inner remorse when the team loses ......
Wu Haiyan (right).
That night of April 13th was uneventful for many, but for our fans, it was the first match of the China-Korea confrontation in the Asian zone play-offs of the Olympic qualifiers.
On the night after a 2-1 away win, joy and hope were mixed as our country
women's soccer
Distance to Tokyo
the Olympics
Only one step away. However, captain Wu Haiyan was torn in her mind as two yellow cards prevented her from playing in the second round of the play-offs and she could only witness her teammates' struggles from the sidelines.
She was up all night with mixed feelings. Before the first round, she realized that she was carrying a yellow card, so she reminded herself of it throughout the game. When the referee showed Wu Haiyan the yellow card again, the TV broadcast camera caught her desperate look and she seemed to want to express something, but the referee had already left and Haiyan quickly returned to her defensive position.
"When I got this yellow card, I immediately thought, I can't play the next game, so the first thing that came to my mind was that I have to win this game, I have to take it on the road, I'm going to go out on a limb", Wu Haiyan said in an exclusive interview on the Tokyo 2020 official website.
"The moment we won the game, I firstly felt happy that we won the game, then secondly I felt still a little bit disappointed with myself because I also reminded myself to control my movements before the game, but in the end I still got a card. I didn't want to disadvantage the team at such a crucial moment, so there is still a lot of disappointment", said Wu Haiyan.
She was often in tears when she was in private. This contrasts with her toughness on the court and her calmness in front of the media.
There is a question about Wu Haiyan on Zhihu, and one of the answers is like this: "On the field she is hot blooded, has an unconquerable temperament, first-class defensive ability, running actively, experienced, long passes are also good, can quickly get into the role of the game, is a diligent and hard-working player, off the field in the face of the reporter's interviews are clear, quick-witted, generous, IQ IQ IQ and IQ are not low".
This nicely summarizes Wu Haiyan's role as a
women's soccer
The qualities shown by the captain: a diligent and hard-working player with great ball skills, and a rational and calm captain with a high IQ and EQ.
To be a perfect player and captain is not about not allowing yourself to have emotions or not making mistakes, but being better able to channel and regulate emotions or mistakes when they arise.
"People are always going to be that little bit emotional, but I didn't feel like it was pressure. I always feel like we're all working so hard and there's no need to feel how we feel over maybe we're not doing well or a little problem of some kind, so I didn't think of it as pressure as much as it should be."
Haiyan explains, "Because honestly, at the national level, a lot of people expect you, are pinning their hopes on you, so I was more trying to turn that pressure into motivation."
At just 22 years old, Wu Haiyan wore the captain's armband at the 2015 International Cup, becoming the country's
women's soccer
The youngest national team captain. There is no doubt that this is a heavy responsibility. When this unimaginable burden fell on Haiyan's shoulders, she said she was a bit confused.
"I was kind of confused", she said, "I was afraid that I wouldn't do well because I think the responsibility is the trust that we put in you, including the coaches' trust in you, but my mindset was okay, no one is perfect, but you try your best to do it right. I'm thankful for the trust that the coaches, including my teammates, have given me."
The perfect girl in everyone's eyes, Wu Haiyan, doesn't take perfection as a goal to pursue, and therefore doesn't feel pressurized by the pursuit of perfection; her secret is to do her best while putting the interests of her team first.
"In fact, what I do sometimes may not be particularly good, but they are all very understanding and have not complained to me". As captain, one must balance many things inside and outside the team, to which Haiyan said, "The most important thing is to have our interests as the main focus, the collective comes first, and these two words are always above 'I'."
And this may well explain why Wu Haiyan is such a good defense player, she continued, "Actually, when we are defenders, I think the most we can do is to think a little bit more for others, because we stand at the end, in front of the goalie, and we have to do a good job as a barrier for the goalie. Being the last line of defense requires us to make up for when others make mistakes."
Unless specifically asked, Wu Haiyan seldom talks about herself, but she will habitually talk about the efforts of each teammate on the field and the example set by coach Jia Xiuquan.
Letting go of the ego and integrating oneself into the collective, this kind of Zen without "I" in one's heart, accomplished an excellent
women's soccer
Athletes and
women's soccer
Captain.
Wu Haiyan says she is an optimistic person, and in her story, you can feel the different levels of this "optimism".
It contains a clear perception of self-limitation, she said, "Whenever I encounter a difficulty, the first thing I think of is how to accomplish it and how to solve the difficulty. However, human capacity is limited, and when you can't do it alone, you seek help from others. That's how girls need each other, in fact this is very important."
Both rise to the occasion but also know when to give up: "If you really can't finish, I don't think it matters if you can give up. As long as it's not a matter of life and death, I don't think it matters."
In Haiyan's eyes, the so-called "winding road" also has its own significance:
"Actually when you get to a fork in the road, I think you can turn around and go right, there's not really much of a road to turn around right? And then I think a different mindset and idea, just think of it as you're growing or you need to understand more things."
More than that, there is a total commitment to the moment: "I hope that the work of the moment must do it well, and then when you really have to go to face the choice, go to choose the work that you love to do, and to do it or not to do it well is actually secondary, but the work that you choose to stick to it."
The next goal for Haiyan and the team is Tokyo.
the Olympics
. And Japan is also our country in her eyes
women's soccer
The blessing of the 2016
women's soccer
It was in Japan that they got the Olympic qualification.
As for host Japan's
women's soccer
Haiyan thinks it's also worthwhile to center
national soccer team
Reflection: "Japan
women's soccer
The rankings have always been above us. In fact, many people say why don't we learn from Japan's youth training? But I think actually we should reflect on it first", said Haiyan, "I think Japanese soccer is not about one person, and not only about soccer people, but the whole country, we are all involved in it."
She expects to be in Tokyo.
the Olympics
On, our
women's soccer
We can make a breakthrough and pass on the spirit of the "Old Roses" who were not able to witness it, so that more people will pay attention to our country.
women's soccer
Selfie by Haiyan Wu.
Anyone who knows Wu Haiyan knows that she loves to laugh, and she looks like a girl next door when she takes off her team uniform. In between training sessions, she likes to bring her teammates together to dance, take selfies together, and send out trills and Ins.
Currently, soccer is of course the center of gravity in Haiyan's life. Over the years, she has traveled to many countries and cities because of competitions around the world, but she has never been able to really experience them, so she is looking forward to the day when she can go and see the outside world with her friends or family, and then maybe "with my future boyfriend".
She loves the pitch and the joys and sorrows that soccer brings to her. She says, "Being a player, this life, it's worth it," but she also looks forward to the love that is yet to come and expects to experience another version of life.
