From the top of Asia to the absence of Paris, when will the Chinese women's football team rebound?

Text: Zhang Bing

From Xiamen Egret Stadium

At halftime, the popular Hokkien song "Love Fight to Win" sounded at Xiamen Egret Stadium, and the Chinese women's football team also reached the moment when they had to fight in a desperate situation. In the previous two group games, the Chinese women's football team lost 1-2 to the strong rival North Korea in the first game and defeated the fish belly Thailand 3-0.

South Korea also sniffed a chance to qualify. In the 62nd minute of the game, South Korea's Shim Yeon-yeon scored a header to take a 1-0 lead. In a desperate situation, Shui Qingxia decisively changed the formation, allowing the captain of the central guard, Wang Shanshan, to return to the front line she was best at, and replaced it with a number of new forces to launch a fierce attack. In the 78th minute, Wang Shanshan returned a header to score and finally equalized.

In the last 10 minutes, under the screams of more than 20,000 fans at Egret Stadium, the Chinese team seemed to wake up like a dream, creating a number of good opportunities to score goals one after another. However, with Yan Jinjin missing the chance to kill alone in the 84th minute, on the night of November 1, China and South Korea shook hands and had to accept the fate of being eliminated from the tournament.

This is the second time in the history of the Chinese women's football team that it has missed the Olympic Games, and it is also the third time that it has missed the World Series. What's even worse is that women's football will not have any international tournaments to play in the next two years.

The performance of the women's football team did not meet expectations

There is no need to repeat the glorious past of the Chinese women's football team, although the "sonorous rose" has also experienced a low point, missing the 2011 World Cup and the 2012 London Olympics. But even the Chinese women's football team, with the current team members as the team, has staged a magical moment of a shocking reversal against South Korea to win the championship in the Women's Asian Cup at the beginning of 2022, which has rekindled the confidence of the Chinese people in the "sonorous rose".

However, in just over a year, in the 2023 women's football year, the Chinese women's football team has failed to show outstanding results in the Women's World Cup, the Hangzhou Asian Games, and the Olympic Qualifiers, and even created an embarrassing picture of not qualifying for the World Cup group and losing to the Japanese second team at home in the Asian Games. This can't help but make us ask: what happened to the Chinese women's football team?

The author believes that there are three main reasons for this. First of all, in the group draw of this Olympic qualifiers, the North Korean team, which has always been among the best in Asian women's football, has not participated in international competitions for a long time, and the points have been cleared.

Secondly, there are many problems within the team. During the Olympic preliminaries, the number one star Wang Shuang stayed in the United States due to injury and was not selected for the squad; Asian Cup winners Tang Jiali and Xiao Yuyi have not been called up in recent games; Wu Chengshu, Liu Yanqiu, Zhang Rui and others suddenly had a high fever, making the Chinese women's football team, which was already facing a period of change between the old and the new, even more unavailable.

Admittedly, in addition to so many reasons, the core problem is that the overall strength of the Chinese women's football team is no longer dominant in Asia. Just as in the Women's World Cup, the high-speed offensive and defensive rhythm and game intensity of European and American teams have approached the level of men's football, and the Japanese and South Korean women's football teams have also caught up with and surpassed the Chinese women's football team with their men's football development path. When the strength of the two teams is evenly matched, the initiative of victory and defeat is not in their own hands.

As the helmsman of the Chinese women's football team, Shui Qingxia took the initiative to take responsibility after the team's defeat, and she also expressed the hope that the women's football players will stay abroad more to improve their strength: "The Football Association has always hoped that the players can go out, get more experience, and improve the level of the national team after they come back." Personally, I want the players to go out and see what their strengths and weaknesses are, how they can change, and see how European football is played. ”

With an average of 20,000 fans per game and 20 sponsors, the "sonorous rose" is confident

After missing the Paris Olympics, the women's football players with tears in their eyes still circled the field and waved to the fans. No one will be happy in the face of such an ending, but it is undeniable that in the final stage of the game, the Chinese women's football team still played their own spirit, which made the fans feel a little comforted.

In fact, compared to having "the most beautiful marathon track in China", Xiamen is not famous for football, this is the first large-scale international football event hosted by Egret Stadium after the completion of the stadium, and the stadium is also a certain distance from the city, but these have not stopped the enthusiasm of fans. In the three matches of the Chinese women's football team, an average of 20,000 spectators came to the scene. The local organizer also set up a shuttle bus and hung a banner on the way to the stadium, making it easier for fans to come to the scene to cheer for the women's football team.

The sports business randomly inquired about some fans, some of them watched the national team game for the first time and just arrived at the stadium after work, some dragged their families and their wives and children to feel the spirit of women's football, and even many fans came from other provinces to cheer for the women's football team. Despite the poor results this year, "Sonorous Rose" still has a special place in the hearts of fans.

It is worth mentioning that it is with such a huge fan base and reputation that the commercial value of the Chinese women's football team has exploded. Before the opening of the Women's World Cup, the number of exclusive sponsors of the Chinese women's football team at all levels climbed to 15. Coupled with the sponsors at all levels of the Chinese team, the overall number has already exceeded 20, which also created the highest record for the national team.

During the three major tournaments, despite the outstanding results of the women's football team, the major sponsors have always continued to support the women's football girls with their greatest strength. For example, during the Olympic preliminaries, brands such as Mengniu, Panpan, Baixiang, Yanghe, Xinri, and China Sports Card Industry set up fan interaction areas around the stadium, attracting many fans to visit and calling on everyone to cheer for the Chinese women's football team. Alipay's "Chasing the Wind Girls" and Prada's fan group also came to the Egret Stadium to cheer for the Chinese women's football team.

Regarding the prospect of sponsoring women's football, the brand leader of a women's football sponsor admitted to the sports business: as long as the women's football team plays its own strength, even if it fails to compete for gold and silver, it is an acceptable result. It is foreseeable that as more and more enterprises realize the influence of Chinese women's football and even women's sports, the commercial value of women's football will be further enhanced in the future.

Another trend that cannot be left unmentioned is that with the upgrading of the national understanding of sportsmanship, the Chinese women's football team, which has always had the spirit of never giving up and perseverance, will also become one of the best carriers of sports marketing.

There will be no major competitions in the next two years, and it is fundamental to improve the youth training of women's football and play more high-level competitions

The Chinese women's football team has missed the Paris Olympics, and the reality that must be faced is that the next international competition will be the 2026 Asian Cup, and in the context of no major events in the next two years, whether from the coach or to the players, the Chinese women's football team has reached a crossroads in personnel reconstruction.

This team's Dinghai Shenzhu Wang Shanshan is 33 years old this year, and the two meritorious veterans Lou Jiahui is 32 years old and Zhang Rui is 34 years old, and their national team careers have basically come to an end. It is reported that Wang Shanshan has planned to retire as a coach. And for 28-year-old Wang Shuang, Li Mengwen and 29-year-old Yang Lina and other Mesozoic players, there are too many uncertainties about the future.

Under the personnel change, women's football youth training is undoubtedly a level that needs more attention. According to the sports business, not only the Chinese Football Association, but also the partners of the Chinese women's football team such as Alipay and White Elephant have also been deeply involved in the youth training construction of the women's football team. In time, we can hopefully see more young soccer players make their mark.

South Korea women's football coach Colin Bale also gave advice on women's football in Asia, saying: "We need a higher level of play and a game like today is what we need to improve. In addition, I suggested to the AFC that the Nations League could be created, and according to the AFC schedule, there will be no worthwhile matches in Asia until 2026, and now it is only 2023..."

In fact, just recently, the AFC is holding an annual awards ceremony and other activities, and the new chairman of the Chinese Football Association, Song Kai, and his party also came to Doha, Qatar to start "football diplomacy". On the one hand, she received the 2022 AFC Women's Football Coach of the Year Award on behalf of Shui Qingxia, and on the other hand, she also communicated and held talks with FIFA and AFC management on jointly promoting youth football.

This is a good start for all sectors of Chinese football that are restarting.

Note: The image is from Visual China and is used with permission from Ford Pack