STORY: China's goalkeeper vows to protect team at FIFA Women's World Cup
DATELINE: July 13, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:20
LOCATION: ADELAIDE, Australia
CATEGORY: SPORTS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Chinese national team in training
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese): ZHU YU, Chinese goalkeeper

STORYLINE:

Chinese goalkeeper Zhu Yu hopes to contribute to the national team's success in her first-ever FIFA Women's World Cup, which begins next week.

Zhu played a crucial role in the team's Asian Cup victory last year, earning the best goalkeeper award.

The Chinese team, who reached the round of 16 in the 2019 World Cup, arrived in Gold Coast on Wednesday for a warm-up match against Brazil. Brazil is currently ranked eighth in the world, six places higher than China.

Before departing from the team's base camp in Adelaide, Zhu, who is set to make her World Cup debut, expressed her excitement in an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday.

SOUNDBITE (Chinese): ZHU YU, Chinese goalkeeper
"When it comes to playing football, the World Cup means one of my dreams. In fact, being able to come to the World Cup now is equivalent to a dream come true.
At this World Cup, my goal is to implement head coach Shui Qingxia's tactical philosophy and perform well. We don't want to disappoint our fans because they truly support us.
From the beginning of our preparations for the World Cup, we have recognized that European teams have the upper hand in terms of physicality. Strengthening our physical training has been one of our main focuses. You can see that we have improved significantly. However, there is still a gap when playing against European teams. I will do my best to support my teammates in front of the goal."

The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20.

China is placed in Group D alongside England, Denmark, and Haiti.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Adelaide, Australia.
(XHTV)