BEIJING, July 18 (Reporter Bian Liqun) “‘8’ is a very good number in China, and I hope that the Chinese women’s football team will perform better in the 8th World Cup.” As the women’s football World Cup is about to enter the first anniversary of the countdown, Sun Wen, vice chairman of the Chinese Football Association and former women’s football international, looked forward to it.
As the representative of the “beautiful and energetic policewoman” golden generation in the 1990 s, Sun Wen helped the Chinese women’s football team win the runner-up in the 1999 Women’s football World Cup. Over the past 20 years, Sun Wen, who is still in the front line of Chinese football, witnessed the changes of world’s women’s football sports. In her view, both on-site and off-site are already “two worlds”.
Sun Wen also said frankly that the Chinese women’s football team has encountered great challenges at present, but she believes that the United Chinese women’s football team will not perform badly in the World Cup one year later.
Data map: Sun Wen, vice chairman of Chinese Football Association and former women’s football international. Photo source: Osports all sports photo club
Go all out to support Shui Qingxia
At the Asian Cup at the beginning of this year, Shui Qingxia, who took office quickly, led the Chinese women’s football team to win the Asian Cup, bringing surprises to Chinese football. After half a year, the Chinese women’s football team will compete in the East Asia Cup under the leadership of Shui Qingxia, and will also go to the World Cup next year.
When talking about water Qingxia, the coach of the Chinese women’s football team, Sun Wen said: “Water guidance used to be my teammates. I participated in the World Cup, the Olympic Games and other competitions together and was very familiar with each other. Over the past few decades, she has been studying and growing hard in the women’s football arena. Winning the Asian Cup is indeed a wonderful memory, but it will face great challenges in the future.”
Data map: Shui Qingxia. Photo source: Osports all sports photo club
Sun Wen said that in any case, she would go all out to support Shui Qingxia. At the same time, she also hoped that the Chinese women’s football team would show its due level under the leadership of Shui Qingxia. “Over the years, the team has shown signs of maturity in psychological and physical state, and I hope they can show progress in this aspect.”
For the current Chinese women’s football team, it is in the stage of combining Old, Middle and young. Sun Wen said that he hoped to dig out some new people under the leadership of the old team members and have further running-in in in skills and tactics. “After all, since the Asian Cup, we have lacked the competition with the world’s top teams, so this is a good growth experience and we must go all out to play.”
Chinese women’s football team members celebrate winning the Asian Cup.
Women’s football competition requirements are getting higher and higher
At the age of 18, he took part in the women’s football World Cup, helping Chinese women’s football team continue to climb in the World Cup until the 1999 World Cup won the runner-up. Sun Wen witnessed the peak period of Chinese women’s football. In the 2019 women’s football World Cup, Sun Wen also participated in the technical research of FIFA as an observer.
Over the past 20 years, Sun Wen experienced the rapid development of world’s women’s football sports from players to observers. “I think progress is not only the technical and tactical factors in the field such as attack and defense conversion and physical confrontation. Many off-site things are also changing with each passing day. For example, the number of spectators in the stadium and the planning of the media. Including the team is now a more refined team operation, such as technical analysis, physical fitness analysis, nutrition rehabilitation, etc., and we were completely two worlds at that time.”
Sun Wen looked forward to the Chinese women’s football World Cup one year later. “In the past two years, the Chinese women’s football team has experienced ups and downs, with the joy of victory and the sweat of failure. The players have gained growth in the psychological level and the ability to resist pressure. As for the technical and tactical level, we need to see the performance of the whole team at that time, and now there is still room for improvement. I think with a United team and joint efforts, the performance of the Chinese women’s football team will not be bad.”
Sun Wen, vice president of Chinese football and former women’s football international. China News Service reporter Tao Shilan photo
I hope the fans will accompany me for a long time.
Under the “two worlds” with the rapid development of world’s women’s football sports, the test for Chinese women’s football is self-evident. Sun Wen believes that only a strong opponent can create a strong self. “We hope there will be more opportunities to compete with strong teams in Europe and America, and our abilities need to be exercised. If in the domestic league, there is still a gap between the ability of attack and defense conversion and physical confrontation compared with the world arena. At this stage, we plan to stay abroad and arrange more competitions. This is the starting point.”
However, Sun Wen also said that the development of women’s football is a systematic project and takes some time. She revealed that she has been working hard on youth training in recent years, which takes a long time to work and may not be able to see the effect now. “So on the one hand, we are how to improve better at this stage, and on the other hand, we pay more attention to digging out good players in the long run and have more systematic training and guidance.”
“This requires more attention and long-term company from the fans, which is the best love and support for the Chinese women’s football team.” Sun Wen said. (Finished)