Wuhan Women s Football Team Head Coach Chang Weiwei: It s not easy, the core players stand up and lay a solid foundation

May 25th, the 2025 Women's Football Team AFC Finals, Wuhan Chegujiang Women's Football Team vs. Melbourne City Women's Football Team in Australia. After 90 minutes of battle and ups and downs, we relied on Wang Shuang's penalty kick to achieve a tie and dragged the game into overtime! In the penalty shootout, relying on the brave performance of goalkeeper Chen Chen, he defeated his opponent with a penalty score of 5-4, and won the first Women's Football AFC trophy as he wished! At the post-match press conference, Chang Weiwei lamented that "it's quite difficult."

Review the road to winning the championship.

Chang Weiwei: "For everyone's dream - the first AFC Cup can stay in China, Hubei and Wuhan (we try our best) to create a brilliant history."

"When I went to Japan (to participate in the quarter-finals), I told you that this is a mountain, and we have to turn it over. As for whether we can cross this mountain in the end, we have seen our spirit of unity. In the end, it may be that there are more spiritual things than technical and tactical aspects."

"This game may have inspired the fighting spirit of our players after falling behind. Our young players have greatly improved through the Women's Super League and National Games qualifiers. When we are behind, we have no scruples and have played a good role. They have caused the opponent to have handballs, allowing us to get penalty kicks." The core role played by important players in the finals is also crucial.

Chang Weiwei: "Wang Shuang has always been very strong in pressure resistance. She scored a key goal under pressure. Wu Haiyan and Ma Jun are in the backcourt, allowing us to find opportunities. At the critical moment, Yao Wei also stood up. In fact, her injury has not healed yet, but she has all the best to intercept. Why can we win the championship? Because our core players can stand up and lay a solid cornerstone."