Henan team, relegated two rounds ahead of schedule...

Dahe Daily·Yu Video Reporter Wang Weihao

On the afternoon of September 11, the Henan Women's Football Team lost to the strong Wuhan Women's Football Team 2:3 at home. After this game, Henan Women's Football Team was relegated and was demoted to the Women's League two rounds ahead of schedule.

Currently, there are only two rounds left in the Women's Super League this season, which will be held on September 21 and September 28 respectively. This time, Henan Women's Football Team is in Xinxiang to face Wuhan Women's Football Team at home, which is the fourth round of the make-up match.

As the overlord of Chinese women's football, Wuhan Women's Football Team has achieved five consecutive women's super champions and won the AFC Champions League for the first time in May this year, with a significant advantage in strength.

Although the overall strength of Henan women's football team is at a disadvantage, the whole team has shown tenacious fighting spirit in desperate situations. Henan Women's Football Team fell behind two goals in the first half, but they stubbornly tied the score in the second half. Unfortunately, at the end of the game, the Wuhan Women's Football Team used corner kicks to create a melee in the penalty area. Henan players accidentally made an own own and finally lost to the opponent 2:3.

After this game, Henan Women's Football Team ranked last in the standings with 1 win, 7 draws and 12 losses, 6 points behind the Shaanxi Women's Football Team. With only two rounds left in the league, the Henan women's football team's record is at a disadvantage, and a relegation quota has been locked two rounds ahead of schedule.

The depth of the Henan women's football team this season is insufficient, and with frequent injuries, the record is long-term sluggish. The only victory is to defeat Yongchuan Women's Football Team, which is in the relegation zone. Many fans are actually mentally prepared for the result of relegation.

Looking back on recent years, Henan Women's Football Team has been on the verge of relegation. After the Henan Women's Football Team successfully advanced to the Super League in 2017, it began its Women's Super League in the 2018 season. At that time, there were only 8 teams in the league. According to the rules, it was the last place in the league to be relegated. Henan Women's Football Team ranked seventh at the end of the season, and survived the limit. In the 2019 season, Henan Women's Football Team once again won the seventh place in the league and was thrillingly relegated.

In the 2020 season, the Women's Super League expanded to 10 teams. Due to the weak strength of the "renewal team", the Henan Women's Football Team finally ranked eighth in the relegation. In the 2021 season, Henan Women's Football Team ranked seventh, which is also the best result in the Women's Super League.

By the 2022 season, Henan Women's Football Team will eventually rank at the bottom of the league, and will be relegated directly to the next level. However, since the Women's Super League will expand to 12 teams in the 2023 season, there are only 0.5 places for relegation in the season, that is, the last one will be in the third place in the Women's League One. In the end, Henan Women's Football Team defeated Dalian Women's Football Team and successfully stayed in the Women's Super League.

In the 2023 season, Henan Women's Football Team also lagged behind for a long time. With its outstanding performance in the last few rounds, they finally relegated in the last round of the league and ranked tenth; in the 2024 season, the suspense of Henan Women's Football Team's relegation was still left in the final battle, and Henan Women's Football Team won the final round and locked in the ninth place.

However, problems such as talent gap, frequent change of coaches, and lack of funds have always plagued the Henan Women's Football Team. In recent years, the team's coaches have been changing continuously, and the tactical styles are difficult to continue. With a group of veterans retiring, young players have not yet fully grown, and the strength of the Mesozoic generation has been broken, and the team often still needs to rely on the veterans to hold on. Once you encounter injuries, your combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.

This season, 34-year-old Lou Jiahui led the team as a player and coach. As a former international player and the core of the team, although she has outstanding strength, due to her age, injuries and coaching pressure, she is no longer able to carry the team as a player. In the later stage of the league, the team was replaced by men's U21 coach Gao Fei. Although he played several exciting games, he was unable to make up because of too many "debts" in the early stage. In terms of funds, the Henan Women's Football Team has always obtained limited resources and it is difficult to conduct strong signings. This season, the two foreign players, Zambian center Mpopo and Ivory winger Tia, contributed only 4 goals and 3 goals respectively, and both ranked outside the scorer list and failed to bear the banner of offense.

For many years, Henan has both men and women's Super League teams, which is also the pride of Central Plains Football. Now that the women's football team has bid farewell to the top league, it is a pity. The road ahead still requires more effort and perseverance. (Picture source: Henan Football Association)