Original title: Chinese women’s football overseas warm-up is mixed, but the World Cup is not without chance
On the evening of the 22nd Beijing time, the Chinese women’s football team drew 0:0 with the Irish women’s football team in a friendly match, ending their training trip to Spain. During this journey, the Chinese women’s football team has achieved 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. Generally speaking, there are joys and sorrows.
And just earlier in the day of the friendly match, the Haitian women’s football team defeated the Chilean women’s football team 2:1 in the world preliminaries play-off and won the World Cup ticket. The opponent of the Chinese women’s football team in the World Cup group stage was officially determined. There are still 5 months before the World Cup, and the preparations for the Chinese women’s football team will also enter the sprint stage.
China’s opponents in the Women’s World Cup group stage.Image source: Chinese Women’s Football Team
further positioning
Before the trip to Spain, the Chinese women’s football team conducted the first phase of winter training in China, and started overseas training on February 10, ushering in a long-lost international friendly match. The Chinese women’s football team, which played with a semi-main lineup, defeated Real Betis 2:1 in the first game, and lost 1:4 to the powerful Sweden in the second game. In the third game, the Chinese women’s football team defeated Huelva Sports 4:0. Almost all the main players were sent to a 0:0 draw with the Irish women’s football team.
In general, the warm-up value of the four games is relatively high. The two warm-up matches with the Spanish women’s football club have greatly allowed young players such as Fang Jie, Ou Yiyao, and Chen Qiaozhu to be trained and inspected.
The current training list of the Chinese women’s football team.Image source: Chinese Women’s Football Team
The friendly matches with Sweden and Ireland are even more valuable. The former ranks 3rd in the world and the latter ranks 23rd in the world. To a certain extent, it simulates the two World Cup group match opponents of the Chinese women’s football team, England and Denmark. Especially the game against Sweden was the first time the Chinese women’s football team played against a world-class team in one and a half years since they competed in the group stage of the Tokyo Olympics. Under the high intensity and fast pace, the Chinese women’s football team fell behind 0:3 in the 14th minute of the game.
Although the final score of 1:4 was a bit dazzling, the European women’s football team has “blossomed” rapidly in recent years. This is the most intuitive gap between the Chinese women’s football team and its strength, and the gap is getting bigger and bigger. This trend has been going on since the last French Women’s Football World Cup. began to show clearly.
Of course, this is not only reflected in the Chinese women’s football team, the entire Asian women’s football team has encountered such a crisis. While the Chinese women’s football team lost 1:4 to Sweden, the South Korean women’s football team also lost to the England women’s football team with a big score of 0:4 in the warm-up match.
Chinese women’s football coach Shui Qingxia said frankly in a previous interview that it is necessary to have a correct positioning for the Chinese women’s football team. Compete with strong teams, or even achieve better results. Realistically speaking, it is impossible.”
Need to continue to run
Although there is not a small gap in strength with the top European teams, they were scored 3 goals by their opponent Sweden in the opening 14 minutes, including the 2:8 disastrous defeat of the Netherlands in the group stage of the Tokyo Olympics. Whether it is the process or the result of the game, it is obviously still a bit too “” exaggerated”.
As far as the match with the Swedish team is concerned, the Chinese women’s football team still focuses on training. Compared with the Asian Cup winning period, more than half of the starting lineup has been adjusted. On the one hand, it is to seek “metabolism”, and more importantly, to further inspect and train players to give more opportunities to young players.
In addition, the Chinese women’s football team’s previous winter training in the domestic stage focused on physical reserve and strength training in order to lay a foundation for improving the speed of offensive and defensive transitions. In the future, it will further polish its skills, tactics and lineup. There are still five months until the World Cup opener against Denmark on July 22, so there is some room for time.
In recent years, there are not many opportunities for the Chinese women’s football team to play against strong teams. After the training in Spain, the team further found the existing problems. This is a rare and valuable experience, and it is also the significance of the training trip in Spain.
It is difficult to qualify for the group
Just earlier in the day of the friendly match between the Chinese women’s football team and the Irish women’s football team, the Haitian women’s football team defeated the Chilean women’s football team 2:1 in the World Cup preliminaries, and the Chinese women’s football team’s opponent in the group stage of this World Cup was also determined.
The Chinese women’s football team will play against Denmark, which ranks 18th in the world for the first time, the Haiti women’s football team, which participated in the World Cup for the first time and ranks 55th in the world, and the England women’s football team, which won the last European Cup and ranks 4th in the world.
This kind of confrontation situation is actually somewhat similar to the group stage of the Tokyo Olympics. The first game is against a strong team, the second game is against a “underdog” with a relatively low ranking and inexperienced competition, and the final game is against a top European team.
For the Chinese women’s football team, the most critical match is the first match against Denmark in the group stage. At least they must remain unbeaten. In the second match, they must learn from the lessons of the Tokyo Olympics and must defeat Haiti. It is worth mentioning that although the opponent is competing in the World Cup for the first time, there are more than 10 players in the team playing in the European League, and they are blessed by strong shooters, and they are not as weak as the rankings appear. In the last game against England, it was less loss and more victory.
Obviously, the Chinese women’s football team will face many difficulties in the group stage of the World Cup. It is not easy to qualify for the group stage, but it is not without chance. The most important thing is to maintain a good attitude, give full play to the advantages of the team and do a good job in offensive and defensive transitions. When facing a strong European team, make full use of dexterity and speed to break through the opponent. In the warm-up match with Ireland, the teenager Zhang Linyan showed certain advantages in this regard.
Shui Qingxia, coach of the Chinese women’s football team, said before that the team’s goal is to reach the quarter-finals, and she thinks the Chinese team will still create some surprises.
In last year’s Asian Cup, the Chinese women’s football team rebuilt amidst the turmoil of the Tokyo Olympics defeat and coaching change. I believe that the Chinese women’s football team will continue to face difficulties and create surprises in the World Cup. (Reporter Bian Liqun)