Chen Qiaozhu: When the whole world is improving, how can the Chinese women's football team be willing to fall behind

Reporter Wang Wei and intern reporter Huang Hao report In the 2023 Women's World Cup, Chen Qiaozhu played three games as the main force of the Chinese women's football team, and Chen Qiaozhu, who appeared on the World Cup stage in the first game of the group stage against the Danish women's football team, blocked a powerful long-range shot from the opponent with her head, which left a deep impression.

On January 17, a reporter from this newspaper went to Zhaoqing from Guangzhou to interview the head coach of the Chinese women's football team, Milicic, and player Chen Qiaozhu. Early in the morning of the same day, when the reporter arrived at the local hotel in Zhaoqing, where the Chinese women's football team stayed, he happened to meet Fan Yunjie, the deputy leader of the Chinese women's football team, Ren Guixin, trainer, Chen Qiaozhu and Shao Ziqin, who were going to the high school of Zhaoqing Middle School to participate in the meeting and exchange activities between the Chinese women's football team and the campus football team of Zhaoqing primary and secondary schools. Chen Qiaozhu sent blessings to primary and secondary school students in Zhaoqing and to primary and secondary school students across the country when interacting with the students: "You are the future and hope of the motherland, and you will inevitably encounter difficulties on the way to study, but as long as you have a dream in your heart, there is a road under your feet." ”

At 11 o'clock in the morning of the same day, after the interaction with primary and secondary school students in Zhaoqing, Chen Qiaozhu immediately returned to the Chinese women's football station to accept an exclusive interview with this newspaper. Chen Qiaozhu has been a regular in the national team since May 2024, when Chinese women's football head coach Milicic took office, scoring a goal against Uzbekistan at the Yongchuan International Women's Football Championship last October.

In this exclusive interview in Zhaoqing, the Chinese women's football player from Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, shared with this newspaper her changes after the World Cup, and what efforts the Chinese women's football team is making to narrow the gap with the world's strongest teams. "When the whole world is improving, how can the Chinese women's football team be willing to lag behind." Chen Qiaozhu said.

◆Football: What are the main aspects of the first training in 2025 in Zhaoqing, Guangdong? MilicicinstructorWhat are the short-term and long-term goals for the team?

Chen Qiaozhu: Before and after each training, the head coach will put a sentence at the end of the PPT of the meeting: "Training is the game". On pitch, the manager wants us to learn from last year's game to control the ball under pressure, not to concede the ball easily, and to maintain the overall formation in attack and defence, which is what we are working on every day now. So, training is the game, and he wants us to take every training session as if it were a regular game, focusing on every pass, every shot.

◆You played three games as the main player in the 2023 World Cup, and now that you look back on your World Cup experience, what do you think this tournament has made you grow and improve?

First of all, I have become stronger in terms of psychological resistance, and secondly, I have accumulated personal experience in attack and defense, and through such a world competition, everyone will definitely gain something.

◆Last year, the Chinese women's football team had a high-quality warm-up match with the Australian team and the Dutch team.

In fact, the head coach and we also communicated after the game, and our total running data in the race was better than theirs, and basically everyone's running could exceed 10,000 meters. However, our high-speed and sprint running numbers are far behind our opponents, and we are also lagging behind others in terms of ball speed. How to close these gaps, it is necessary to follow the coach's words, training is competition, we train according to the rhythm of the game, constantly running at high speed, sprinting repeatedly.

◆Tell us about manager Milicic, what is the biggest impression he gives you?

He's a tough guy with a lot of humour, and his severity is on the pitch because he's going to be very careful about our details in training, he wants the players not to make the same mistake over and over again, and he feels that if you don't train hard, you can't play well. But in ordinary life, he is also a very humorous person, the players can express any problems in training and life, and he is also happy to see us take the initiative to express to him, if the players have injuries, he will wait for the players to rest, and then go all out to return to training.

◆This time, another player of the Guangdong women's football team, Chen Xiubing, was also selected for the national team, you and she are not only teammates, but also good partners who grow together, what exchanges have you had about being selected for the national team?

Chen Xiubing and I have known each other for more than ten years, we are good friends who grew up together, and the communication between us is more about training, we will study the problems that arise in training together, and then discuss how to do better in training and competitions.

◆When did you first get involved in football and where did you train as a child? What other positions did you play before playing full-back?

I started playing football in September 2009 when I was training at Zhanjiang Sports School. When I first started playing, I played in the forward position, and after I joined the national junior team, I gradually switched to full-back.

◆Football: Not long ago, you were awarded the 2024 Most Charming Miss Football in Guangdong Province, and what do you think about winning this honor for the second time?

Chen Qiaozhu: As a member of the Guangdong women's football team, I am very happy to receive this award. I would like to give a special thanks to the coaches, the team-mates and the fans for their continued support in giving me a second chance to win this award.

◆This year's 15th National Games will be held in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, what are your goals and expectations for this grand event to be held at your doorstep?

On the stage of the National Games, every team will attack the championship, and for us, I hope that the Guangdong women's football team can strive to stand on the podium.

◆Do you have a favorite player? Which player is the target of your learning to play football?

To be honest, I don't have a particular fan of the player, but when I watch a game and I see some great shots at left-back, I keep it in my mind and then think back to it in training and in the game to see if it fits me and if I can do it.

◆Your fans have nicknamed you "Ferrari Leizhou", and they have made a plaque for you, what would you like to say to the fans who support you?

First of all, I would like to thank them very much, I remember that last year some of the league games were played in torrential rain or sunshine, but even then there were fans who came to support us, so I tried to repay them with my performance on the field. There are also fans who will give me some handwritten letters and small gifts after the game, which I have kept, and I will also carefully read the things that each fan wrote to me, and their thoughts are now put in a small bag in my house, I want to keep these things, and one day I will not play football and look back at these things, and then I will feel very warm when I think of being loved by so many fans when I was young.

◆Football: From the beginning when you saw Luo Guiping and Tan Ruyin being selected for the national team, to being selected for the national team, and now being selected for the national team with Chen Xiubing, Yuan Cong, Peng Shimeng and other teammates, what spirit do you think the Chinese women's football team has been inheriting?

Chen Qiaozhu: In this training camp, Fan Yunjie, as the deputy team leader, played the video of the Asian Cup during the meeting, when the Chinese women's football team caught up with the score when they were behind. After watching it, the hearts of our players are very surging, although these classic games have become memories, it has witnessed the efforts of the predecessors of the women's football team, and as juniors, we will also feel very proud and honored.

◆What are your personal goals for the future? Do you have any ideas to play abroad?

Do a good job in the moment, take every training session, play every game well, whether it is a regular game, a teaching game, or a team game within the team, and do these current things well. Regarding the idea of going abroad to play, if I have the opportunity, I will definitely be willing to go, but what I value more is whether I can have enough opportunities to play, if I can't play, then going abroad will not reach the value of training.

◆In the past two years, the Chinese women's football team has not participated in major competitions, so how should you keep improving as an athlete in this situation?

After the end of big competitions such as the Olympics and the World Cup, we will look at what statistics are behind others, and then narrow these gaps in the next one to two years, and strive to make up for these shortcomings the next time we meet our opponents. Like me, I saw through the World Cup that I was lacking in sprints and physical confrontations, so I focused on improving those aspects in the last year or two. Although there is a gap between us and the world's best teams, how can we not find a way to improve when we see others improving.