After twelve years, another season round, the Chinese women's soccer team unfortunately failed to be among the Olympic Games.
In the second half, the team created countless good opportunities, data and scenarios are dominant, but ended in a draw, and the opponents missed the opportunity to go out of the line, staged a competitive sports rare "the same death".
After 90 minutes of back and forth, a long whistle blew and the score was fixed at 1-1. It seemed that both sides were undefeated, but in fact both sides lost. The only thing that remains is the sigh of Coach Shui Qingxia, the tears of countless women's soccer players, and the reality of Wang Shanshan's successor.
At the moment, 20,000 fans cheered in unison, applauding the players who had fought so hard that the bullets had run out.
Such an outcome does not seem surprising.
Some of the people on the list and the stories behind them may explain today's regrets.
I. Employment strategy
In the press conference after the match, reporters asked questions about overseas players. Coach Shui Qingxia did not directly mention Tang Jiali, but took the initiative to talk about her. Here is what Coach Shui said about Tang Jiali:
"Don Chia-Li is one of the study abroad players and is strong. I hope she comes back and performs."
It is clear from this speech that Coach Shui will not give up on powerful players such as Wang Frost and Xiao Yu Yi. They don't have serious injuries or significant decline. Ordinary fans know the strength of Tang Jiali, as Coach Shui who has worked with her for many years, don't they know?
In this list, the directive suggestion of a certain high-ranking person became the key to the change of the big list. Originally, Tang Jiali and Zhang Xin were on the water coach's Olympic preliminaries draft list, but later became the names of other candidates. Discussing the matter with insiders, he was perplexed. His suspicions were later confirmed, "Some people might not want to recruit her."
To a certain extent, some of the players who appeared in the three games were not the ones Coach Water wanted to use, but had to use. In each game, Coach Shui can only play the best cards he can when he is in a position to do so if some of the players appear, are seen by the leaders, or prove that they have taken on a great deal of responsibility on the field. For example, South Korea's second half, down the wing, penetrating through the middle, and bombing high into the air. How long has it been since you've seen that kind of cooperation and offense? The never-give-up Chinese women's soccer team seems to be back.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
It's not the first time that this selection intervention has gradually permeated the entire coaching staff after the World Cup.
There is nothing wrong with these players that were drafted. Some of them really don't know that they were selected because of this way. But their appearances affect the team to a certain extent, resulting in other better players rarely playing and ultimately hurting the entire Chinese women's soccer team.
And in this Olympic qualifying tournament, the Chinese women's soccer team has geographical advantages but not the timing and people.
The first match of the group stage will face the strongest North Korea. Although the mysterious coach has been away from the jungle for three years, the opponents are still strong. When they returned to the tournament, the familiar North Korean women's soccer team hadn't changed a bit. In their debut in Hangzhou, the DPRK women's soccer team went straight to the final of the Asian Games, finishing second.
In contrast, the Chinese women's soccer team can only assemble two days before the start of the game when many of them are studying abroad. The exhausting boat ride and the grinding of a brand new lineup always make the nerves of the water coaches tense. Some of the main force has not yet poured over, to face the battle of Tianwangshan. Winning the game to grasp the initiative of the line, losing the game to look at the face of the people.
In this case, the Chinese women's soccer team used to be able to rely on Wang Frost and Tang Jiali, but now they can't make it. Not only are they not available, but they are also experiencing the flu in a lineup that is not rich in matches, leading to fevers in four of the starters, including Wu Chengshu and Li Mengwen. Even if the athletes are in better shape and can recover in a day or two, they can't handle the density and intensity of this Wednesday.
And so on, the superposition of various factors, presented on the field can only be to North Korea helpless, to Thailand's lack of breakthrough, to South Korea's foregone conclusion.
II. Positioning issues
"Elimination isn't necessarily a bad thing right now. If you win today and are fortunate enough to advance, the expectations will certainly be raised indefinitely. When the time comes, if you lose by a big margin to Japan or Australia, how embarrassing the scene will be." An insider said.
His words are not without merit.
In October, the second place Shanghai Women's soccer team in the Women's Super League traveled to Japan for training. During their half-month stay in Tohoku, the Shanghai women's soccer team had a record of 1-1 Zagoya Ainobashi, 3-9 Nippon Television Beauties, and 1-9 Kanagawa Mobara. The first opponent was from Japan's second tier league, consisting mainly of college students. The last two opponents were the third and ninth place finishers from the first division league, with almost no active international players in attendance, and mostly young players from the post-00s.
Xiao Yuyi, Li Jiayue and the team's two foreigners played in all three warm-up matches, but still struggled to win.
The league is the basis for national team selection. The top two teams in the Women's Super League went to Japan and really saw the gap between Chinese and Japanese women's soccer at this stage. In the words of former international player Li Jiayue, "Behind on all fronts, we are in a sad situation! I don't know when we can really recognize our fundamental problems and make changes! Maybe I can't wait for this day."
Should the Chinese women's soccer team advance this time, there could be a sequel to the 1-6 at the World Cup in the final showdown next March.
Therefore, insiders say that missing the Paris Olympics was a wake-up call for many, so that executives and fans could see the true level of Chinese women's soccer. As Socrates said, the prerequisite for all actions should be to "know thyself".
Song Kai took office on the Chinese women's soccer team hopes, did not expect half a month later suffered a blow to the head, "China's women's soccer team must be out of the Olympic qualifiers!"
After winning the Asian Cup, Coach Shui talked more than once about a word highly associated with the championship - "luck". In other words, the Chinese women's soccer team's championship was more like a Danish fairy tale and a Greek myth, which is not normal in itself. It's just that there were so many pages on coaching and women's soccer spirit that the word ended up getting buried.
At that time, the reason why the Chinese women's soccer team was able to quickly get out of the fiasco of the Tokyo Olympics and complete the transition to the top of Asia was that, in addition to the coaches' and players' own efforts, it also required the coordinated planning of a certain leader sent from the higher-ups to the Football Association. Under his management, everyone in the team can fulfill their duties and do their best. The coach is responsible for selection, training and scheduling. The players only need to train and play, and the whole team is of one mind.
Soon after India won the cup, the leader left and the atmosphere of the team gradually changed. The Chinese women's soccer team seems to be going back to the past, to the middle and late stages of the past women's soccer coaches.
"History has proven that everything is easy to do as long as the Chinese don't compromise themselves." This famous quote from historical fiction is sometimes true of women's soccer. Coaches and players have never been the problem of Chinese women's soccer, but rather the distractions and temptations of others.
Now the wood has turned, and the Chinese women's soccer team spent the next two years back in what was once a familiar environment - with few people asking questions.
How much will this disappearing future affect Chinese women's soccer? Without high level playing experience, how far will the majority of Chinese women's soccer players be left behind by the increasingly fast developing world women's soccer? Will the Chinese women's soccer team still be able to fight a battle when we meet the real Japan-Australia again? In the meantime, will society's attention to women's soccer drop to freezing point? Will there be a sudden drop in the number of girls playing soccer? Will the league remain the same after sponsorships have moved away?
Time will give answers to these myriad questions.
As Luo Xiang said, "Cherish your lows and you will see many truths. All who are willing to get through the times can get through the times. No one's life is smooth sailing. Suffering in the trough is to build up strength to hold on to even the light that comes through the cracks before you have the courage to die. Please repeat, a thousand times a thousand save themselves by the thousands in the midst of fire and water."
