Chinese women's football walked into the rose bowl.

"Rain and rainbow, clang roses,

No matter how sad or painful, go back;

Wind and rain rainbow, clang roses,

Across the world, Xiaoaotianya will never retreat..."

  I don’t know if this popular song at that time dragged your thoughts back to the turn of the century in 1999. It belongs to the Chinese women's football team. Since then, "Clang son rose", spread throughout the river.

  Twenty-one years ago, the third women’s World Cup final was about to hit. The Chinese women's football team in red jerseys walked into the Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles with the scorching sun. On the other side of the ocean in the early morning, countless people were awakened by the alarm clock and stood in front of the TV on time, looking forward to witnessing the historic moment when the Chinese women's football team reached the highest podium.

Data picture: In the quarter-finals of the 2003 Women's World Cup, the Chinese women's football team lost to the Canadian team 0-1. The picture shows that Sun Wen tried his best to reach the goal and fell to the goal. China News Service issued Liu Zhankun photo

  At the scene of the game, 90,185 spectators filled the stands. Most of them wore white jerseys from the American team, and the entire stadium looked like a white ocean. But the touch of Chinese red in the center of the stadium still shone. The two sides are evenly matched and the offensive and defensive are staggered. In the 120-minute fierce battle, the Chinese and American teams had no results.

  The game entered a penalty shootout. Xie Huilin and Qiu Haiyan, the first Chinese team to play, steadily shot the ball into the goal. The third player to play was Liu Ying, a midfielder who saw her take two steps back and run forward. But before she had made a move, the American goalkeeper Scurry moved ahead of time. This should be a foul, but the referee did not blow the penalty. Scully saved Liu Ying's penalty and also extinguished the hope of the Chinese women's football team to the top.

Liu Ying's penalty was sealed.

  Since then, Zhang Ouying and Sun Wen have successively hit the target. The Chinese team made 4 free throws and the US team made 4 free throws. The last player to play was Chaston of the United States. She kissed the ball and took a few steps back, ready to kick.

  Gao Hong standing opposite her was one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the time. She has used countless difficult saves to save the fate of the Chinese team, and was also selected to the World Cup All-Star team. But this time, no miracle happened.

Chaston scored the winning goal.

  The moment the ball flew to the goal, the Rose Bowl Stadium boiled. The audience cheered and shouted in the stands to celebrate the victory of the American team. Chaston, who scored the winning goal, could hardly conceal his excitement, tearing up his jacket to reveal his black underwear.

  The Chinese girls sat on the ground and many people cried. The tears shed include disappointment, annoyance, and even more unwillingness.

  In fact, the controversy in that game was far more than Liu Ying's penalty kick. In the overtime before, defender Fan Yunjie took the corner kick from Liu Ying and flicked his head to the goal, but was leaped by the US team midfielder Lily at the goal line. After the game, the three-dimensional stereoscopic image is restored, and the ball has completely crossed the goal line. But the on-site referee signaled that there was no goal and the game continued.

Fan Yunjie header.

  Two consecutive points of controversy have caused the Chinese women's football team to miss the World Cup champion. "It's just a little bit worse. It may be how many years of blood and sweat baptism can make such a little bit." Ma Yuanan, then coach of the Chinese women's football team, sighed after the game.

  Looking at the winner's podium, which is close to the horizon, the Chinese girl left the world with a lonely back. Even so, the girls still made history. This precious silver medal is by far the best result of Chinese football in world competitions.

  But for Liu Ying, behind that silver medal was a lingering nightmare. She had faced the camera with no expression and tears in the corner of her eyes: "Because of this penalty, the Chinese women's football team did not win the world championship. The damage and bumps caused by this penalty are too great!"

  Even though there are regrets, the World Cup was still a monument in the history of Chinese women's football, and the title of "Chong Chong Rose" also spread.

  The golden generation represented by Sun Wen has established a heroic image of the great shore in the hearts of countless people. That proud lineup witnessed the most glorious moment of Chinese women's football. In the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the Chinese women's football team won a silver medal; in the 1997 Asian Cup, the girls reached a seven-time championship; until the 1999 World Cup, the strength of the Chinese women's football team reached its peak.

Data Map: Group Photo of the Chinese Women's Football Team in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics

  I never thought that the glorious moment was so short. In the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the Chinese women's football team broke into the group stage. After the Asian Cup, the dream of eight consecutive championships was shattered. Ma Yuanan sadly ended the get out of class and a group of players left the stadium. The strength of the Chinese women's football team began to decline.

  Six years ago, Pu Wei, who was the youngest player in the women's football team, surrendered the captain's armband of the national team and announced his retirement. So far, the most glorious era of Chinese women's football has come to an end. At the retirement ceremony of Pu Wei, the 34-year-old said, "Thank everyone for knowing my name." The young player Wang Shuang, who was only 19 years old, stood behind her eyes. Four years later, the little girl joined the Paris Saint-Germain club, which brought the dawn of the Chinese women's football once again.

  But everyone understands that the revitalization of Chinese women's football can never rely on the strength of someone alone. The meager treatment of female football players, the unclear way out after retirement, the women's football league without attention... In the face of the harsh and brutal reality, how many parents are willing to let their daughters take the football path? Trapped in the mud of talent cuts, when can the Chinese women's football surpass the honor of its predecessors?

  Thousands of miles of embankment collapsed in ant den. Twenty-one years ago, how close we were to the championship, and in these 21 years, how hard we have gone. In 2019, Wang Shuang won the title of Miss Asian Football, together with the holding of the World Cup in France, the Chinese women's football once again set off a wave in China.

Data map: On June 25, 2019 local time, the Chinese women's football team greeted the audience after the game. On the same day, in the 1/8 final of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup held in Montpellier, France, the Chinese team lost to Italy 2-0 and missed the quarterfinals. China News Agency reporter Tomita

  Unfortunately, the girls did not make it to the quarterfinals, setting the worst record of the Chinese women's football team in the World Cup. For a time, people began to miss the strong lineup of 1999 again.

  But between the stars and the stars, the environment for women's football in the world today is very different from 21 years ago. Behind modern football involves a series of complex issues such as football concept, youth training, competition system, and cultural environment.

  Failure is not terrible. If you learn a lesson from it, it may also become an opportunity to make a comeback. What is gratifying is that even if it fell into a trough, the clanging spirit of Chong Rose has always been there. Just as in 1999, the group of girls who dared to challenge the Americans, the sonorous roses moved the people, and never changed.

Let us remember the big list of the Chinese Women’s World Cup in 1999:

Head coach: Ma Yuanan

Team members: Han Wenxia, ​​Wang Liping, Fan Yunjie, Man Yanling, Xie Huilin, Zhao Lihong, Jin Yan, Sun Wen, Liu Ailing, Pu Wei, Wen Lirong, Liu Ying, Bai Jie, Qiu Haiyan, Fan Chunling, Zhu Jing, Gao Hong, Gao Hong Xia, Wang Jingxia

Zhang Ouying (died of lung cancer in 2018)

(Author Xing Rui)