Wang Shuang Suspended & Milicic Faces Former Team, Can Chinese Women's Football Overcome Host Nation Tonight?

Report by Wang Wei At 18:00 Beijing time on March 17, Chinese Women's Football will challenge host Australia Women's Football at Perth Stadium in Australia. In the absence of Wang Shuang, how to utilize team capability and spirit to break through is key. This match holds particular significance for Australian coach Milicic, who previously coached the Australian women's team. At the pre-match press conference on March 16, when discussing the special opponent in the semifinal, Milicic stated: "We will analyze them as they analyze us. But as always, we will focus entirely on ourselves. Hopefully tomorrow we can execute our tactics well and deliver a great performance, giving us a chance to achieve a good result."

In the quarter-final against Chinese Taipei Women's Football, Chinese Women's Football again made extensive rotations. Although Chinese Women's Football dominated throughout, they only scored during extra time through Shao Ziqin's goal and Jin Kun forcing an own goal, locking the score at 2-0. Coach Milicic stated post-match that he anticipated such difficulty, especially as fluctuations are normal after the team's excellent performance and victory over North Korea in the previous match.

Recalling tactical instructions before extra time, Milicic said he told the players that the most important thing was continuous ball circulation, maintaining patience, and forcing opponents into passive defense. "I also wanted to remind the players to first move into better positions before crossing, ensuring cross quality, while being alert to opponents' transition from defense to attack."

However, behind this victory there are also concerns. Wang Shuang received a yellow card in the second half, accumulating two yellow cards and thus missing today's semifinal. Milicic expressed that Wang Shuang performed excellently in this tournament, and her absence is certainly a loss, but a team consists of 26 players, and now they must look forward. "We focus on the whole team. What we need to do now is find the right lineup combination and strive to perform well on Tuesday night. In the semifinal, we will still focus on ourselves, hoping the players can unite and cooperate to perform even better."

Rotating seven players against Chinese Taipei indicates Milicic's coaching team has begun preparing for the semifinal against Australia. When struggling to break through in the second half against Chinese Taipei, the substitutes Milicic brought on were essentially starters from the match against North Korea Women's Football. In the match against North Korea Women's Football, Chen Chen started as goalkeeper, Zhang Chengxue played right back, Wu Haiyan partnered Yao Wei as center backs, left back was Chen Qiaozhu, Wang Aifang and Zhang Rui were double pivots, Zhang Linyan and Wuri Gumula were on left and right midfield, Shao Ziqin and Wang Shuang were upfront. Based on intensity against Australia, Chinese Women's Football's starting lineup can reference that match against North Korea Women's Football. Since Chen Chen, absent from the match against Chinese Taipei Women's Football, still hasn't participated in ball training pre-match, starting goalkeeper is likely still Peng Shimeng.

Certainly, with Wang Shuang suspended against Australia, Milicic needs to select a replacement from Wu Chenshu, Wang Yanwen, Jin Kun, and Tang Jiali. At the March 16 pre-match press conference, Milicic brought Wang Yanwen, who is expected to replace Wang Shuang.

"When I first took this job, I remember seeing her at Beijing team. Later she went to France to play football, which I think is fantastic for her. As a football player, stepping out of comfort zone is crucial for growth. So, going to France, experiencing different league, language, opponents, playing style and culture, she benefited greatly," Milicic said at the pre-match press conference about Wang Yanwen beside him. "During my coaching process, she has played multiple positions, which I think is very important for modern players. She can play defensive midfield, attacking midfield, even forward. Her physical fitness is very good, heading ability strong, long-range shooting also excellent."

After the previous Asian Cup, Wang Yanwen began her overseas career. "During nearly two seasons abroad, I feel significant improvement both mentally and football-wise. I hope the improvement gained abroad can help the national team perform well in this Asian Cup. For tomorrow's match, I also hope I can do more for the team, take more responsibility, and perform well," Wang Yanwen said.

Milicic and his team planned for this Asian Cup based on playing six matches over three weeks—the sixth match being the final. The dense schedule plus long travel from Sydney to Perth necessitates lineup rotations. "We planned around six matches, regardless of whether we reach that stage," Milicic said. "I mentioned before, we want every player to feel she is part of the team."

Additionally, within Chinese Women's Football, Wuri Gumula, Yuan Cong, Wang Ying are currently playing in Australian league, Wu Chenshu also previously played in Australian Women's Football League. These players are sufficiently familiar with Australian Women's Football, correspondingly they are also players opponents know better.

The team's preparation plan was made based on playing six matches. Milicic expressed they will continue striving for this goal, but the semifinal challenge against host nation will be difficult and holds special meaning. After taking over in 2024, Milicic led Chinese Women's Football to Australia for warm-up matches, first drawing 1-1, then losing 0-2. However those matches were nearly two years ago, Chinese Women's Football lineup has changed considerably, being somewhat stronger than when Milicic first took over.

The 2024 warm-up match between Chinese Women's Football and Australian Women's Football in Sydney attracted 76,798 spectators. It's foreseeable that spectators on March 17 night in Perth will also be numerous. How will Chinese Women's Football face such large host spectator support? Milicic said: "One thing I know about these Chinese Women's Football players is that playing in front of large away crowds doesn't intimidate them. When I first coached China, the first two matches were against Australia, with many spectators in Adelaide and Sydney. Their willpower is extremely strong, even facing a stadium of 60,000 they show no fear."

Milicic is familiar with Australian Women's Football head coach Montemuro. "We have deep friendship as well as fierce competition. I believe both sides will strive wholeheartedly for victory Tuesday night. For the next match, we shouldn't overthink. I believe the girls can perform confidently in this situation."

Milicic previously coached Australian Women's Football. Now leading Chinese Women's Football against host nation in Australia inevitably draws attention. "Chinese Women's Football players are resilient, they crave success, they listen attentively, they learn diligently. I see this in their eyes every day. I will fully support my players against any opponent, that's their spirit," Milicic said.

Discussing current Australian Women's Football, Milicic said: "Australia's front four players are ready to jointly intercept opponents' attacks anytime. They coordinate well and maintain stable performance even in top European leagues. So our defense must be extremely solid. We've proven we can achieve this. But we cannot only think about containing opponents' strongest offensive firepower. Our offense can also trouble opponents. So this semifinal we must find balance between defense and offense."

Milicic said: "Entering the final is a dream for me, not only personally, I also understand it's others' dream. Many team members have put tremendous effort for this dream, we are preparing with utmost effort. We know this will be a tough match, but we will certainly enjoy it and definitely have a fantastic night."