The Big Interview: Sun Wen
The former forward is a legend of the women's game. In an exclusive interview, the now China Football Association Vice-President talks about her career...
Sun Wen is one of the genuine original legends of the women’s game.
The former China forward is not just an icon in her home country, but far beyond it. Sun is China’s top goal scorer in international football with 106 goals and is also ranked inside the top 10 in China for national team caps to go with it.
If anything tells you of her standing within the game, she was named joint-FIFA Female Player of the Century in 2000 alongside the USA’s Michelle Akers. The goal scoring forward played at four World Cups and is one of all-time top scorers in the competition, winning both the Golden Boot and Golden Ball as China came so close to stunning a home crowd and beating the USA in the 1999 final.
She won four Asia Cups and an Olympic silver medal at the Atlanta Games in 1996 and her legacy has lived on ever since, particularly in China where she’s very much still involved in the game as Vice-President of the Chinese Football Association.
Sun is currently down under in Australia as China prepares for its final group game against European champions England, with a good chance of progression if they can get a result, but at threat from Denmark if they can’t.
If China ever wants to return to the glory days of the Sun Wen era when they were reaching major finals, she is probably the best person to have in charge of the sport’s development close to home.
“I’m mainly responsible for women’s football in China,” she says. “That includes national teams of all ages, organising competitions from the girls who are 12 years old through to the adult and coaching education. I do that while carrying out the promotion of women’s football in China too.”
“I still have an image in my head that I sang Mariah Carey’s Hero on the bus and they were shouting back to me ‘Must be the Sunny’.”…”
China has for a long time been the most populated country in the world, so logic assumes it should always be able to have a successful football team.
That hasn’t happened though, as the women’s team hasn’t been past even so much as a quarter-final since the 1999 final, and went out in the second round in 2019. The men have fared even worse than that.
Very few players venture outside of China’s domestic league, unlike in Korea Republic and Japan, which is aiding the development of their national teams. A handful in China have, with star player Wang Shuang currently playing in the USA, but not as many.
Sun Wen herself also went to the USA, such was the clamour from WUSA franchises to sign her after the 1999 World Cup which saw her score seven goals, and she joined Atlanta Beat in time for the 2001 season.
“That was a wonderful life experience,” she recalls. “I was called Sunny by my American teammates and we often had gatherings and hung out together during days off.
“I still have an image in my head that I sang Mariah Carey’s Hero on the bus and they were shouting back to me ‘Must be the Sunny’.”
But aside from a life experience, it almost exposed Sun to the nation who had beaten her side in 1999, and offered a glimpse into why they continue to be the most successful country at the top of the women’s game.
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“Their confidence, passion and courage is very impressive. I used to think that I was mature, but after I went to the USA I realised I was still a kid compared to some of my teammates I had there.
“I found out that self-management and self-discipline is very important for a player. This is different from my past experiences because there was more all-round support. We did not pay a lot of attention to other things apart from football and you realise how important those skills and habits are for your post-football career.”
“Regarding how I got into football, there is only one word – love…”
She adds, regarding what she learned that she could bring home to China, “The largest source of talent for American women’s soccer is NCAA. The development of youth clubs driven by university sports, which is very different from the European model of clubs within women’s football and the USA has been the world’s top team for 30 years.
“I think finding a suitable system based on specific environments is a very key part for us here, just like the game model. It’s about finding the proper playing system to integrate individual characteristics to the team.”
Sun was born in Shanghai and across the span of just over a decade that’s where she played her football, making over 600 appearances for local side Shanghai SVA in the domestic league.
She credits her dad as the person who got her into football, and reflects on how school clubs kicked off her playing career and turned it into a job rather than a passion.
“My father played locally, but he was just a fan and he was the only one in the family who supported by commitment to football,” she says. “Regarding how I got into football, there is only one word – love.
“My pathway is school, a sports school, then my club. For the past decades, the growth of most players has not really changed in China. I hope we can do much more, explore much more for example because there can be some talented plyers from the university teams through to the professional teams for the national team, but we have to find them.”
Sun was one of the pioneers who represented her country at the first official FIFA Women’s World Cup back in 1991, when China was one of the nations at the forefront of the sport.
They had hosted an unofficial tournament in 1988 as a pre-cursor to the official tournament three years later, and she was just 18 years old when she prepared to walk out in front of huge sell-out crowds in stadiums around the country.
“Back in 1991, I was 18 years old and a starting player in the first match. I remember my parents were very surprised. I still remember the psychological state of the first game during the march-in ceremony.
“I was so nervous the rhythm of my breathing changed. ‘Is the next breath in or out?!’ I asked myself, it was funny looking back. I think a player’s growth needs various experiences.”
China won a group which included eventual finalists Norway, but went out 1-0 in the quarter-finals to Sweden thanks to an early goal from legend and now Brazil head coach Pia Sundhage.
Bar the final in 1999, it’s as good as it has ever got for China in a World Cup, and it has an immediate short-term impact on the sport close to home.
“In the 1980s, there were many women’s teams in China and hosting the World Cup in 1991 was so natural for us,” she recalls. “I remember when we went to Guangdong to play as a guest team, the fans were always very enthusiastic.
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“That was the first time China hosted a major FIFA tournament. Both the project itself and the promotion of women’s sport as a whole were very positive and it left a valuable legacy for the women’s football culture. The general public and many parents began to accept that girls can also play beautiful football and they witnessed so many countries in the world also have women who play football. Gradually, it changed the stereotype that girls can play football.”
It hasn’t though had the major long-term impact Sun and the rest of the CFA may have wished for. They have been surpassed by AFC rivals such as Korea Republic and Japan, while Vietnam and the Philippines have also now qualified for a first World Cup.
Recent years have offered hope after winning the Asia Cup again in 2022, but a poor result on Tuesday could see them not even make the second round of the tournament, despite being ranked 14th in the world.
“1991 was a key point in the development process of women’s football in China,” says Sun. “Our league and youth training system has been greatly improved and continually developed.
“On the other hand, with the great support from the league and the CFA, China has been recognised by the world. We have played many good games in Europe or the USA almost every year. Over the past 20 years, although the performances of China was still not ideal, our youth system based on sports in schools and the competition system continually developed. Recently, we have witnessed big progress in Europe and we need to work harder on high-quality development.”
She admits China accepts their World Cup is “very tough” in European champions England, an exciting Haiti side and a Denmark team who despite being in Pot 3 are now ranked just above China in the FIFA rankings, but hopes they showcase their “never give up” attitude when it comes to trying to get out of the group.
And what of her own legacy? Sun Wen is still the most recognisable name when it comes to the history of Chinese football, and in the women’s game anywhere in the world.
She is someone respected across Asia and far beyond for her skill level, talent and both her personal and team achievements during her playing career, but she hopes in the future kids in China can have even more idols to look up to, because it means she will have done her job.
“I believe the power of sports idols goes beyond football itself. The sports values are achieved through the medium of idols to girls who love football. Plus, the spirit of sports can influence the society in every age group and both genders.
“In the new era, I hope we can have more outstanding players to lead the Chinese women’s football back to the top. At the same time, my task is to support and to create a good women’s football eco-system, together with people who love football so much just like me, providing better opportunities for the development of games and female individuals.”
Hi Rich, great piece! I am running a women's football news wesite in Chinese. I would love to translate this article into Chinese and post it there. Is this OK? I will definitely credit you and encourage people to subscribe to your site!
My site: woso-news.com