December 15, 1983 was the day when the Chinese National Women's Football Team was established.
When the annual ring of the years almost finished the traces of 2020, the Chinese women's football team entered 37 with more expectations.
Over the past few decades, the Chinese women's football team has undergone a difficult transformation from scratch, from amateur to professional; they have shined in the world arena, and they have wandered in the trough; they have played the strong voice of the times and left precious spiritual wealth.
On the occasion of the 37th birthday, we used 37 historical pictures to bless the Chinese women's football team, which is heading for a revival, to be on top of the world one day.
On February 10, 2020, the Group B match of the Tokyo Olympic Women's Asian Qualifiers was held in Sydney.
The Chinese team defeated Chinese Taipei 5-0 and advanced to the play-offs.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tao Shelan
"Wind, rain and rainbow, sonorous rose"
If you want to select the most thrilling and memorable match in the history of Chinese women's football, probably many fans will choose the 1999 World Cup final without hesitation.
In the summer of the turn of the century, the Chinese women's football team was only one step away from the World Cup champion; it was from then that the girls had their own exclusive title-"Clang Rose".
In the 1999 World Cup finals, the Chinese women's football team played in the lineup.
That summer, the Chinese team composed of Sun Wen, Zhang Ouying, Fan Yunjie, Liu Ying, Pu Wei, Wen Lirong, Wang Liping and others, under the leadership of head coach Ma Yuanan, met with the host United States in the final.
The picture shows Zhang Ouying in training during the player period.
In 2018, Zhang Ouying passed away at the age of 43 due to ineffective treatment of lung cancer.
Prior to this, the Chinese and American teams had already played against each other. It was the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the women's football team entered the Olympic arena for the first time.
In the 1999 World Cup quarter-finals, Sun Wen broke through the gate of Norway.
Image source: FIFA website
The Chinese women's football team encountered the United States in the group stage. Wang Liping received a direct pass from Ailing Liu and broke into the penalty area to shoot, but was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper.
The two teams fought to a 0:0 tie. The Chinese team relied on the goal difference advantage to qualify as the group leader.
In the 1996 Olympics group match, the Chinese team VS the US team, Chinese player Wang Liping competed for the top.
Image source: International Olympic Committee website.
After going around, they met again in the finals.
In the 68th minute, the American team scored, but Mia Hamm, who retreated to catch the ball, was in an offside position, but the referee did not give a penalty.
This controversial goal made the Chinese women's football team regret the Olympics 1:2.
On August 1, 1996, in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games Women's Football Final, the Chinese team lost 1:2 to the American team and won the silver medal.
Xinhua News Agency
No one thought that a similar scene would happen again in the World Cup final three years later.
The venue for the final is the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles.
At the 1999 World Cup finals, Chinese fans cheered for the women's football girls.
Image source: FIFA website
After 90 minutes of fierce battle, the two sides handed in a goalless draw.
In the overtime game, Fan Yunjie leaped high and succeeded with a header.
But after the ball crossed the goal, it was ejected by the opposing player.
The referee signaled that there was no goal and the game continued.
After many years, CNN used technology to restore, the ball has completely crossed the goal line.
However, there was a lack of high-tech means at the time, and the referee could only judge with the naked eye.
According to the golden ball winning rules at the time, if Fan Yunjie's goal is valid, then the Chinese women's football team will win the highest honor in the football world.
But life is often more cruel than imagined.
In the 1999 World Cup final, the American goalkeeper saved Liu Ying's penalty.
In the penalty shoot-out, Liu Ying's penalty was saved when neither team conceded a goal in the first two rounds.
In the end, the Chinese women's football team once again missed the world champion 4:5.
In the 1999 World Cup final, the Chinese women's football team stood on the runner-up podium.
This game became the most memorable scene in the hearts of countless people.
In the movie "Endless" directed by Feng Xiaogang that year, Ruan Dawei, played by Fu Biao, burst into tears after watching the penalty shootout, which became the epitome of countless Chinese fans.
The Chinese team watched the US team prepare to shoot the last penalty.
Xinhua News Agency
Although the Chinese women's football team has not had the title of world champion so far, they are still legendary.
The old women's football team represented by Sun Wen, Liu Ailing, Wang Liping and others will be called the "Golden Generation" by fans in the future.
That string of names carrying brilliant memories has been planted in the minds of a whole generation of Chinese people.
After the 1999 World Cup finals, the runners-up Chinese women's football girls left tears of unwillingness.
"Asian Powerful Roar"
Such a team that swept Asia and even led the development trend of women's football in the world was only more than ten years old.
In 1983, the National Women's Football Championship began. On December 15 of that year, the national team was formally established. In 1984, the first national women's football training team appeared.
At the beginning stage, many of the first batch of national brand players were born halfway.
Under the leadership of the head coach Cong Zheyu, they groped their way forward in a poor state.
Cong Zhe Yu, the first head coach of the Chinese women's football team.
Two years later, Cong Zheyu led the first batch of women's football internationals to win the 6th Asian Cup in one fell swoop. This is the first intercontinental championship trophy of the Chinese women's football team and the starting point for the "Clang Rose" to take off.
The Chinese women's football team dominated Asia in the early 1990s.
Image source: AFC official website
In the 6 consecutive Asian Cups since then, the Chinese women's football team firmly held the championship trophy in their hands, achieving their 7 consecutive championships in the history of the Asian Cup.
In 1994, the Hiroshima Asian Games women's football final, the Chinese team defeated the host 2-0 to win the championship.
Xinhua News Agency
Since 1990, women's football has become an official event of the Asian Games.
There, the girls are equally unstoppable.
In the 16-day sports feast, the Chinese delegation won 183 gold medals.
The Chinese women's football team won the first women's football gold medal in the history of the Asian Games.
In the following two games, the Chinese women's football team successfully defended this honor.
Chinese players in the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games.
Image source: AFC website
"Asian winds are everywhere, Asian majesty roars..." The catchy lyrics showed China's enthusiasm for hosting the Asian Games for the first time and became a true portrayal of women's football dominating Asia.
"Run forward, facing cold eyes and ridicule"
After entering the 1990s, the development of world women's football has entered the fast lane.
Football is no longer exclusive to men. With the success of the first Women's World Cup, women's football has ushered in more attention and broader development space worldwide.
On November 16, 1991, the first Women's World Cup opened at the Tianhe Sports Center Stadium in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Enyu
In 1991, the first Women's Football World Cup (then called the "Women's World Championships") airborne in Guangzhou, China.
The strong Chinese women's football team is regarded as the favorite to win the championship.
After the opening match of the 1991 World Cup, the victorious Chinese women's football team walked out of the field.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Guan Tianyi
The opening match, the Chinese women's football team against Norway.
In the opening 22 minutes, the Chinese team took a free kick from Wu Weiying, and Ma Li headed the goal without marking at the front of the small penalty area.
She scored the first goal in the history of Chinese women's football and also in the history of the World Cup.
On November 16, 1991, the opening match of the first Women's World Cup, the Chinese team defeated Norway by a big score of 4:0.
The picture shows the Chinese team player Ma Li (second from left) celebrating after scoring a goal.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Guan Tianyi
Recalling the scene afterwards, Ma Li seemed quite calm: "For us, just proving that our hard training will pay off."
Ma Li was interviewed after scoring the first goal of the Women's World Cup.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Enyu
However, in the subsequent quarter-finals, the Chinese team was successfully attacked by Sweden in just 3 minutes, and finally lost 0:1.
But it is gratifying that a group of young players such as Sun Wen, Liu Ailing, Wen Lirong and so on began to emerge.
In the quarter-finals of the first Women's World Cup in 1991, Chinese team Sun Wen played against Sweden.
Image source: FIFA website.
In the 2nd Women's World Cup, the Chinese team is one step closer than before.
But in the semifinals, he was beaten by the German team, but unfortunately stopped in the top 4.
After the new century, with the curtain call of the "Golden Generation", the Chinese women's football team lost themselves in the world of strong players, and gradually moved away from the first-class teams.
The Chinese women's football team lost to the Norwegian team 1:2 in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games women's football team, and was squeezed out of the top four.
Xinhua News Agency
Since 2000, the Chinese women's football team began to decline, and the Sydney Olympics missed the top four.
Their supremacy in Asia began to suffer.
In the Asian Cup that year, the Chinese team lost to rising star North Korea in the semi-finals. This was the first time the Chinese women's football team missed the final since 1986.
Because of the poor record, after the 2001 Asian Cup ended, the coach Ma Yuanan, who led the Chinese women's football team to win the Atlanta Olympic Games runner-up and the 1999 World Cup runner-up, stepped down.
On September 17, 2000, the head coach of the Chinese women's football team Ma Yuanan attended a press conference after the women's football match at the Olympic Games.
Xinhua News Agency
It was not until 2006 that the Chinese women's football rebounded briefly and regained the long-lost Asian Cup championship.
In the early morning of August 1, 2006, Beijing time, the Chinese women's football team won the Asian Cup for the first time in 7 years.
The picture shows Li Jie holding a trophy
Missing the Asian Cup "eight consecutive championships" is just the beginning of "Waterloo".
In a blink of an eye came the 2003 World Cup.
Many of the "Golden Generation" players have already withdrawn from the game, only a few of them, such as Sun Wen and Fan Yunjie, still persisted.
In the 2003 World Cup group stage, China VS Russia, Liu Ying competed with Russian players.
The weakened Chinese team eventually lost to Canada 0:1 in the quarter-finals.
After the World Cup that year, 30-year-old Sun Wen chose to retire without hesitation.
Since then, the Chinese women's football has entered the "winter period."
In the quarter-finals of the 2003 Women's World Cup, the Chinese women's football team lost 0:1 to the Canadian team. Sun Wen tried her best to reach the top and fell into the goal.
Photo by Liu Zhankun issued by China News Agency
Fan Yunjie has the same idea of retirement as Sun Wen, but she persisted in the Athens Olympics.
As the captain of the Chinese women's football team at the time, Fan Yunjie witnessed the tragedy of the Chinese team losing to the German team 0:8 in the group stage.
She felt a humiliation on the court: "When I was in the Chinese women's football team, I was not beaten like that."
On August 11, 2004, the women's football match of the Athens Olympics started. The Chinese women's football team defeated the German women's football team 0:8 in the first round.
Xinhua News Agency
The ensuing blows caused the Chinese women's football team to seek change.
Before the 2007 World Cup, Domansky, the first foreign teacher in women's football history, took office.
On September 15, 2007, the head coach of the Chinese team, Domansky, conducted the 2007 Women's World Cup.
Xinhua News Agency
That year, the Swedes led the Chinese team to the top 8 in the World Cup held at home, but eventually lost to the old rival Norway and missed the top 4.
In the 2007 Women's World Cup, the Chinese team defeated the Danish team in the group stage. The players celebrated the goal and jumped to "ballet."
Immediately afterwards, French coach Elizabeth took over the coach.
The good times did not last long. Due to the defeat in the Algarve Cup in 2008, Elizabeth was abandoned by the Football Association less than one year after taking office.
On December 19, 2007, the head coach of the Chinese women's football team Elizabeth (front left).
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Dawei
Since then, Shang Ruihua, who led the Chinese women's football team to win the Beijing Asian Games gold medal, returned to the mountain and led his team to the Beijing Olympic Games held at home.
On January 10, 2009, the Chinese women's football coach Shang Ruihua watched the match in the 2009 Four Nations Women's Football Championship.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Dawei
However, the problems of the Chinese women's football team are hard to come back, and a coaching change cannot solve the problem fundamentally.
At the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese women's football team stopped in the quarter-finals.
After being eliminated, a Chinese fan in the stands cried his eyes red.
The Chinese women's football team lost to Japan 0:2 at the Beijing Olympics and missed the top four.
A fan in the stands cried bitterly.
In the 10 years from 2000 to 2010, the Chinese women's football team changed coaches 10 times, and the coaches have returned unfailingly.
The Chinese women's football team also fell into a precarious situation.
In the 2010 Asian Cup, the Chinese women's football team lost 0:1 to North Korea in the semifinals.
Lost the qualification to qualify for the 2011 World Cup.
Photo by Liu Zhongjun
For the 2011 World Cup in Germany, the Chinese women's football team missed the competition for the first time.
In the same year, they also lost their qualifications for the London Olympics.
On September 11, 2011, in the 2012 London Olympic Women's Football Asian Qualifier, the Chinese team lost to the Japanese team and missed the Olympic Games for the first time.
The picture shows the Chinese women's football players thanking the fans.
Photo by Zhang Yong issued by China News Service
Absent from the World Cup, missed the Olympic Games, the Chinese women's football once fell to the bottom.
Fortunately, with the attention and support of all parties, women's football performance began to bottom out: the Rio Olympics advanced to the top 8 and the 2018 Asian Cup won the silver medal.
In the 1/4 finals of the 2016 Rio Olympic Women's Football Team, there were enough Chinese women to play against Germany. The girls eventually lost 0:1 to Germany and missed the semifinals.
At the same time, a new generation of women's football players, represented by Wang Shuang, are gradually becoming familiar.
On November 29, 2018, Wang Shuang was awarded the 2018 Miss Asian Football.
Image source: Visual China
In the World Cup in France last year, the girls lost 0:2 to Italy in the 1/8 finals and fell outside the top four, but their hard work was recognized by the fans.
On June 25, 2019, in the quarter-finals of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, the Chinese team lost 0:2 to the Italian team and missed the quarterfinals.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita
In 2020, the Chinese women's football expedition to Australia under the threat of the epidemic, almost overturned the powerful enemy at home.
In February next year, they will also compete with South Korea to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics...
In Group B of the Tokyo Olympic Women's Asian Qualifiers, the Chinese women were enough to draw with Australia 1:1 and ranked second in the Olympic preliminaries.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tao Shelan
"Running forward, facing cold eyes and ridicule, how can we feel the vastness of life without suffering? Destiny cannot make us kneel and beg for mercy..." Before the 2015 World Cup, CCTV's "World Football" column used this song "Chasing Dreams" "Heart" pays tribute to "Clang Rose".
On this special day, we once again give this song to women's football girls.
May the sonorous roses bloom again in Tokyo next year.
(Reporter Xing Rui)