CANBERRA, April 18 (Xinhua) — China’s midfielder Wu Chengshu mentioned she has confidence to assist the nationwide group progress from a troublesome group together with European champions England within the 2023 Women’s World Cup this summer season.
Wu, who accomplished her first abroad season in Australia’s top-division soccer league earlier this month, performed ten matches since becoming a member of Canberra United final November.
During the 5 months on the Australian capital membership, the 26-year-old missed eight membership matches attributable to damage and worldwide friendlies however nonetheless developed as an everyday starter in numerous positions akin to defensive midfielder, second striker, and winger, scoring two objectives.
Canberra United, who failed to attain a fourth aim within the 3-3 draw with Melbourne City within the final spherical, lastly completed fifth within the 2022-2023 season, narrowly lacking a top-four place to enter the end-of-season finals.
“That match was very crucial and held in the same stadium as the men’s A-League match in Melbourne,” Wu instructed Xinhua not too long ago.
“We were excited and everyone did their best. But the result was a pity. The coach praised our efforts made this season and believed we could reach the top-four next season.”
Usually taking part in as a large midfielder, Wu has emerged as a significant attacking power for China’s nationwide group, scoring the primary aim towards Japan within the Asian Cup semifinal in 2022.
After her first season within the girls’s A-League, Wu mentioned she will be able to really feel the development in her profession.
“I took this step to experience an overseas league for the first time. I think it was a good decision. I didn’t quite adapt to the rhythm here in the first two rounds, and then I played match by match until the last one, getting used to it,” she mentioned.
“My teammates and I have gradually become familiar with each other. I think I made some progress, as this is a physically strong league, which is very competitive.”
Wu mentioned the membership praised her contribution and hoped that they may usher in one other Chinese participant subsequent season.
“Playing overseas means you have to look after yourself, including daily cooking, which was difficult for me when I first came here. Because when I played for Jiangsu in the Chinese league, the club had a chef and canteen, meaning you didn’t need to think about what to eat today,” she mentioned.
“But after a month, I became familiar with cooking and shopping in a market here. You can feel life in Canberra is also convenient. Looking back this season, it was a good experience.”
Before the interview with Xinhua, Wu had simply returned from a coaching camp with the Chinese nationwide group in Europe, the place they drew 0-0 with Switzerland and had been defeated 3-0 by Spain in two warm-up matches forward of the World Cup, which is about to be held in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20.
“The European teams have really improved in recent years. We can feel the gap,” mentioned Wu.
“Take Spain, for example, not mentioning their physical advantage, they were also very calm and relaxed in the match. They were very confident playing their possession control game at their tempo.”
Placed in Group D with England, Denmark, and Haiti on the World Cup, China, although having clinched the Asian Cup title final 12 months, was not considered a favourite.
Only the highest two groups from eight teams can enter the last-16 spherical as it’s the first time the largest match for girls’s soccer has expanded right into a 32-team format.
Despite the problem, Wu mentioned she hoped to proceed enhancing within the following months and would attempt to present their very own fashion with teammates on the world stage.
“We still have a lot of room for improvement. Although the gap is huge, I think as long as we face up to it and narrow it step by step in daily training, we still have great opportunities,” she mentioned.
“At group stage, each team has different characteristics. We will analyze the opponent well before each game and stick to our strategy.
“I feel the primary aim should be to qualify for the knock-out stage. After that, I hope we will go additional. Confidence is a should,” Wu added.