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The latest AFC Women’s Football Special Online Session 2022 detailed the technical highlights of the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup – India as participants gleaned valuable insights from interviews by China’s title-winning head coach, Shui Qingxia and South Korea’s runner-up tactician Colin Bell.
Attended by more than 130 participants from 44 Member Associations (MAs), the session started with an overview of the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup – India, highlighting the key statistics from the showpiece.
China’s Shui then took the floor via a virtual interview where she shared her coaching philosophy after guiding her side to an unprecedented ninth AFC Women’s Asian Cup victory in February.
“After I took over, the first thing I did was create a positive team dynamic and atmosphere. Based on that, on the technical and tactical side, I emphasised quick transition, especially from attacking to defending and the quick awareness to regain ball possession.”
“And the aggressive and solid defending was the foundation. On attacking, I like the passing game and I encouraged them to do so but also emphasised the quick and effectiveness in the attacking,” Shui explained.
She further elaborated on changing the team environment following China’s disappointing campaign at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“Everybody knows that we did not perform well in the last Olympic tournament. After that, the team’s spirit was not high, the players’ mental and psychological state were not stable and confident enough.”
“So, after I took over the team, which was about 40 days to the tournament, the main focus was to erase the negative impact of the poor performance at the Olympics. I created a positive environment both on and off the field. I had one on one conversations with everyone to let them know that football is about happiness and enjoyment,” Shui added.
South Korea’s Bell also shared his experience of guiding his side to a second-place finish and earning an automatic qualification to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“We were proud and pleased with the team and how they performed to get to the final but obviously when you are two-nil up (in the Final) and coming so close to becoming champions of Asia, it was a very bitter disappointment but that’s football and life.”
“We have analysed the Final, especially in the last 20 or 23 minutes and we have to try and find the right solutions and move forward. I was not able in the two and a half years to bring the girls to the level to manage the situation better,” he said.
Bell added there were plenty of positives to gain from the experience in India as they prepare for the global showpiece next year.
“Our main target is to qualify for the FIFA World Cup but we wanted to get to the final and win the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. We had a lot of positives, from the way we performed and how we managed to get results.”
“What I’m trying to get out of the girls’ heads is the honorable defeat mentality. I go into the game expecting to beat China and Australia, knowing they are really good countries. I need to instill the belief deeper into the players hearts and heads but that belief comes from good organisation and preparation. We have a lot of work to do.”
The Technical Study Group then shared their key findings from the showpiece, focusing on combination and wing play and playing with high intensity. The standard of goalkeeping was also discussed in great detail with participants.
