Continental events show growth of women's game

Women, it is said in China, hold up half the sky.

Well, this summer, they will be carrying the second half of the soccer schedule, too. As the Club World Cup draws to a close in the United States, two major continental competitions in the women's game are set to kick off — the final round of the East Asian Football Federation E-1 Championship and the 2025 European Championship.

In recent years it has been China's women that have been propping up the nation's aspirations on the soccer field, providing succor to its long-suffering fans by qualifying for — and occasionally winning — international tournaments, an area where the men continue to disappoint.

And, next week, on the back of an improving series of results under current coach Australian Ante Milicic, the Steel Roses will be back in competitive action.

On July 9 they will face Republic of Korea, before two further matches against Chinese Taipei on July 13, and East Asian powerhouse Japan on July 16.

Milicic will be confident in his charges' prospects, given their recent demolition of Thailand (5-1) and Uzbekistan (5-0) en route to winning the 2025 Yongchuan International Tournament in Chongqing in April, and a respectable showing at the Pinatar Cup in Spain in February, which saw his side, ranked 17th, dominate Chinese Taipei (4-0) and come back to clinch a 1-1 draw with eighth-ranked Canada.

The EAFF E-1 Championship will undoubtedly be used by Milicic as a springboard for his side's defense of its 2022 Asian Cup title next year in Australia.

He will be looking to veteran midfielder Zhang Xin, who has been in good scoring form of late — as has West Ham right-back Li Mengwen — and the likes of 21-year-old Wang Siqian, who hammered home a hat-trick against Thailand, to provide a platform for success in the Republic of Korea next week, and on next year's trip Down Under.

While Chinese fans will be preoccupied with the local rivalries unfolding a few hours east of the country's shores, many of the world's fans of women's soccer will be focused on events playing out amid the Alpine beauty of Switzerland, as Euro 2025 kicked off on Wednesday.

When it does, it will be a showpiece of just how far the Women's game in FIFA's biggest confederation has come.

More than half a million tickets have already been sold for the 31 matches of this year's edition of the tournament, and organizers expect to break the attendance record of 575,000 set at the previous women's Euros in England in 2022.

And just as attendance levels have soared, the prize pot, too, has swollen in size. This summer's event offers a whopping $47 million, more than double the $18.3 million pocketed by the participating national associations in 2022.

Good news for the debutantes, then. And, this year, joining the continental party for the first time are Poland and Wales. Neither side has ever qualified for a major tournament before, and will be looking to make an impression in Switzerland.

However, given the tournament's condensed format compared to its men's counterpart, there are no easy groups, and the newcomers will face an uphill, but compelling, battle to survive into the knockouts.

In Group C, Poland (ranked 27th) faces Euro 2017 runner-up Denmark (12th), two-time World Cup winner and eight-time European champion Germany (3rd) and Euro 1984 Champion and three-time runner-up Sweden (6th).

Wales (30th), meanwhile, faces Euro 2022 winner and 2023 world cup runner-up England (5th), Euro 2017 champion the Netherlands (11th), and France (10th), which came third at Euro 2022, in Group D.

Wales will look to lean on the mercurial skill of the ageless Jessica Fishlock. With 162 games and 47 goals under her belt, at 38 years old, Fishlock would become the oldest player to ever score at a Euros should she find the net, overtaking Northern Ireland's Julie Nelson who scored against Norway at Euro 2022 at the age of 37 — and it wouldn't be a bad bet, either.

Like Gareth Bale did for the men at Euro 2016, the Seattle Reign midfielder is more than capable of inspiring great things from her Cymru teammates with a snap 35-yard screamer, like the one she produced against Italy in the Nations League a month ago.

For the Poles, Barcelona striker Ewa Pajor will be the player to watch. She arrives in Switzerland on the back of a championship-winning season at club level, and will hope to carry that scintillating form into a Poland side that will lean heavily on her experience to navigate its "Group of Death".

Given its opposition, Poland will likely have to concede possession and be patient, making Pajor's gut-busting ability to get on the end of every ball and put it into the box a key factor.

Pajor is not physically big, but she is immensely strong and quick, and her instinct to be in the right place at the right time has resulted in 47 goals in 46 matches for Barca this season, helping the Catalans once again romp to the Spanish title.

mccarthy@chinadaily.com.cn