Melbourne, August 8 (ZXS) -- The Chinese women's football team flew from Melbourne to Guangzhou on August 3, officially ending its World Cup journey.
As the champion of the ST Asian Cup, the Chinese women's football team came with great expectations, but it ended in a rather unexpected ending: the final 1-6 defeat to England set the largest loss difference in the World Cup, and one win and two defeats missed the group for the first time. Coupled with the fact that Denmark was eliminated in the final moments of the first game, and a late penalty win over Haiti in the second round was a certain gap between the expectations of the Asian champions.
In fact, compared with the 20th century 90s to win the World Cup and the Olympic Games double runner-up, in recent years, the level of Chinese women's football competition is far from the peak, and can even be said to be hovering at the trough. In the group stage of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese women's football team conceded 17 goals in three games, including a 2:8 defeat to the Netherlands, and only accumulated one point in the three games, setting the worst record of the Chinese women's Olympic Games.
Therefore, at the beginning of 2022, the Chinese women's football team is participating in the Women's Asian Cup without being favored. The Chinese women's football team turned the tide against the wind: in the semifinals against Japan, the Chinese women's football team was completely suppressed, but it won the game at the second reading moment and won the penalty shootout to advance; In the final, they faced South Korea who were also two goals behind in the half, and scored three goals in the second half to win the championship.
After the collapse of this cup, many people lamented that the Chinese women's football team lacked the "good luck" of the Asian Cup. It is undeniable that there is an element of luck in winning the Asian Cup for the Chinese women's football team, but the outside world has also ignored the lack of competitive strength of the Chinese women's football team. For example, against the Japanese and South Korean women's football team, the Chinese team is passive most of the time, and this gap is even more obvious when facing the stronger European women's team in the World Cup.
In the match with England, the Chinese women's football team is in a comprehensive downside in terms of possession rate, possession time, pass success rate, number of shots and shots on target and number of corners, and the duel between the Asian champion and the European champion is finally presented as a match with unequal levels of ability, not to mention that this is in the case of England losing a number of core players.
Looking at the opponents in Asia, the Japanese women's football team made a big splash in this cup, with an amazing record of 11 goals and 0 goals conceded in all three games in the group stage, including a 4-0 victory over Spain; Although the South Korean women's team was also out, they broke through the German goal in the 6th minute of the final game of the group stage, and the defensive counterattack was loud. The Chinese women's football team scored only two goals and both were penalties in this cup, and they did not score in the sports battle, losing both games against European teams.
More than 20 years ago, the Chinese women's football team was a veritable world power, but why is it getting farther and farther away from the world's first-class level now?
The Chinese women's football team started early, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the "founding country" of the World Cup - with the support of the then president Aviranje, FIFA held a trial match in China in 1991, which also became the first women's World Cup officially recognized by FIFA, and the Chinese women's football team and the world's number one team at that time, the United States, were still equal, and they had a greater chance of winning against Brazil and Norway. However, in the past ten years, women's football in the world, especially in men's football powerhouses, has developed rapidly, becoming a rising star in the Women's World Cup, and the English women's football team is a typical example.
Previously, the English women's football team rarely excelled in the international arena, but by copying the successful experience of the Premier League and incubating the training standards, technical and tactical requirements of the men's football team to the women's football sport, they developed rapidly, and even caught up with many predecessors: the 2015 and 2019 World Cups reached the final four and won the European Championship, and this cup is also the favorite.
Without soil, roses cannot grow. At a time when the world women's sports map is quietly changing, China's women's football team is gradually falling behind. Fortunately, the Chinese women's football team also has a clear understanding of this, and head coach Shui Qingxia has always stressed that although the Chinese women's football team won the Asian Cup again after 16 years, there is still a clear gap with the world's strong teams, and it needs to be worked together through several generations.
The hard work of Chinese players on the field in this cup is obvious to all, and the indomitable spirit of "sonorous rose" is still inherited. It is reported that after arriving in Guangzhou, the Chinese women's football team will be disbanded on the spot and will regroup in September to prepare for the Hangzhou Asian Games and Paris Olympic qualifiers. The "sonorous rose" that has experienced the baptism of wind and rain is still waiting for the next bloom. (End)