Shui Qingxia, the former leader of China's women's soccer team who won glory for the country, took over the baton of the coach and led the team to win back the trophy in the 2022 Women's Asian Cup after a 16-year absence. However, in the 2023 Women's World Cup campaign, China's women's soccer team under Shui Qingxia failed to emerge from the group stage, and the former meritorious coach has been subjected to a public opinion test as a result.
The loss of Shui Qingxia to Xiao Yuyi, Tang Jiali and Shen Menglu to the Asian Games at their own doorstep has sparked widespread controversy. Nonetheless, among the 22 Chinese women's soccer players competing, there is still no shortage of standouts from overseas leagues.
In the USL, Wang Frost, a popular player, plays for Louisville, while the young and talented Zhang Linyan has joined English Premier League powerhouse Tottenham Hotspur Women's Soccer.
Shen Mengyu shines for KAIrTE Women's Football Team and Li Mengwen plays for Brighton Women's Football Team. Other players such as captain Wang Shanshan, Lou Jiahui and Zhang Rui, all from the Wuhan Chegu Jiangda Women's Football Team, have been playing in the Super League. And Yang Lina and Zhang Xin from Shanghai Women's Football, as well as Xu Huan and Dou Jiaxing from Jiangsu Wuxi Women's Football, are all playing key roles in the teams they play for. Uri Gumura is with Changchun Women's Football Club, Chen Qiaozhu is with Guangdong Women's Football Club, while young goalkeeper Pan Hongyan comes from the long-established veteran team Beijing Women's Football Club.
Although the overall strength of the Chinese women's soccer team should not be underestimated, the road to the championship is not a straight road. The advantage of the hosts was reflected in the first match against Mongolia Women's Football Team, but facing the defending champion Japan Women's Football Team, Korea Women's Football Team and other strong rivals, China Women's Football Team's road to win the championship is full of challenges.
For a long time, women's soccer has not received much attention, with a limited number of fans and relatively little attention paid to the living conditions of the players. However, whenever the women's soccer team scores a victory, there are always many so-called fans popping up. Of course, the joy of victory is often just a means to disparage the Chinese men's soccer team in their circle of friends.
