Chinanews.com, Beijing, March 9th, title: Shui Qingxia: Chinese women's football is not the world's top, but will continue to catch up
Reporter Bian Liqun
"In difficult times, our Chinese women's football team has that energy and spirit. In fact, there is such a spirit in all walks of life and in all groups in the motherland. It will allow us to build the motherland better , make the motherland stronger." said Shui Qingxia, deputy to the National People's Congress.
On the day of the opening meeting of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress, Chinese women's football coach Shui Qingxia appeared in the first "representative channel" and became the first representative to be interviewed by the media.
During the busy work break, Shui Qingxia admitted in an exclusive interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com that it was her first time to be a deputy to the National People's Congress, and she was also the first to be interviewed on the representative channel. She felt very excited and deeply responsible.
She also said that the Chinese women's football team will pay more than others in the future and continue to catch up.
On March 5, the first session of the 14th National People's Congress held the first "representative channel" interview activity in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Shui Qingxia, deputy to the National People's Congress, was interviewed by the media.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Han Haidan
The spirit of women's football continues to be passed on
At the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, women's football was on the Olympic stage as an official event for the first time. Shui Qingxia and her teammates reversed the Brazilian women's football team to reach the final at the last moment, and finally won the runner-up.
Spanning 26 years, Shui Qingxia, who stood in front of the coach's bench, led the Chinese women's football team to a 3:2 victory over the South Korean team and regained the Asian Cup championship.
From the older generation of Chinese women's football represented by Shui Qingxia, Sun Wen, and Liu Ailing, to the new generation of Chinese women's football led by Wang Shuang, Tang Jiali, and Zhang Linyan, the spirit of the sonorous rose is constantly being passed on.
Data map: The Chinese women's football team won the Asian Cup championship trophy.
"Women's football has indeed done a good job in this regard. Competitive sports are like this. You must have the spirit of not admitting defeat and uphold the 'higher, faster, stronger, and more united'."
Shui Qingxia said.
In her opinion, this is one of the great meanings of sports—it can gather strength, inspire everyone’s motivation in difficult times, never give up when encountering difficulties, keep pursuing, and keep going up, so people are moved. This is the essence of sports.
Shui Qingxia (first from left) is on the representative channel.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Han Haidan
Hope more people take part in football
Although a veteran of the domestic women's football field, the 56-year-old Shui Qingxia is still a "new representative" at the National Two Sessions.
She said frankly to a reporter from Chinanews.com: "It's the first time to perform as a deputy to the National People's Congress, and it is also the first to go to the representative channel to be interviewed. Now I am very excited and feel that the responsibility on me is also very heavy."
Shui Qingxia revealed that at the National Two Sessions in 2023, she will pay close attention to issues related to people's livelihood.
As for the women's football field she is engaged in, she said that she will focus on investigating the development of youth training in the follow-up.
"This (the development of youth training) still has a great impact on the future of Chinese football. I have also learned about it before. In fact, the campus football in our elementary school is doing better, at least in Shanghai, where many children are playing football. But after junior high school, the number of children playing football gradually decreased, and even less in high school." Shui Qingxia said.
Data map: Children playing football in school.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhai Yujia
Regarding this phenomenon, Shui Qingxia hopes that there will be more and more schools with special characteristics in football. "Children need an atmosphere to play football. People around them like to play football, and he will gradually become interested in it. Just teaching is sure. no."
In addition, she also called on people's ideas to change: "There are still many parents who think that children play football? There is so much pressure on learning. I think parents should not obliterate their children's athletic talents. If children really like it, And the athletic talent is very good, you can also support more."
Data map: Girls doing football training on the green field.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhai Yujia
The Chinese women's football team will continue to catch up
2023 is an important year for the Chinese women's football team. The four-year World Cup will kick off on July 20. The Chinese women's football team will face the European Cup champion England in the group stage, the European powerhouse Denmark, and the unbeatable team. Underestimated Haitian women's football team.
After the World Cup, the Chinese women's football team will also usher in the Hangzhou Asian Games and Paris Olympic qualifiers.
For Shui Qingxia and the women's football girls, the pressure of the successive competitions is not small.
Data map: The Chinese women's football girls celebrate the victory.
Not long ago, the Chinese women's football team ended their training in Spain and played 4 very valuable warm-up matches, with 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss.
Talking about this training, Shui Qingxia said that the effect of winter training has been shown, especially in running.
"To play the World Cup against European teams, we must run more, especially high-intensity running. We increased our strength reserves during winter training. Although we may not be in the best condition in the late winter training, we can still see through the game. Improvement -- quick transition, aggressive defense, I think it's going in the right direction."
Data map: The Chinese women's football team is in the Asian Cup.
Image source: Visual China
Although she won the Asian Cup, Shui Qingxia revealed a kind of pragmatism and rationality in her speech.
"Winning the Asian Cup has given us confidence, but it does not mean that we are at the top level in the world. To have a correct positioning, we have made progress, and we must continue to catch up. In this process, we must pay more than others. Not We can do whatever we want if we are the Asian champions, we are not up to this point." Shui Qingxia said frankly.
In the previous warm-up match, the Chinese women's football team lost 1:4 to the Swedish team, which is ranked third in the world. In fact, this is a microcosm of the rapid "blossom" of European women's football in recent years.
Shui Qingxia told a reporter from Chinanews.com: "The European women's football team obviously has a fast rhythm when they come up, and the offensive and defensive transitions are not sloppy. This rhythm has given us a big impact. We still need to adapt to it and see our own. The gap. Our league level needs to be improved, and after we gradually develop good habits, the confrontation and integrity on the world stage will be much better.”
Data map: Fans cheer for the Chinese women's football team.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yang Bo
Before the Women's World Cup, the Chinese women's football team will have two warm-up opportunities for international competitions. Shui Qingxia hopes to continue to find out problems through the competition, and conduct targeted training and adjustments.
"Now the team is still in a process of continuous improvement. We need to play more games like this, adapt more, and don't be afraid of losing, so that we will gradually know which aspects need to be improved."
Talking about the expected goal of the World Cup, Shui Qingxia said that she hopes to play what she should, such as some small cooperation in preparation, and also hopes that there will be no problem with the physical reserve at that time.
"Let's be ourselves and play every game well." (End)