Check the technique

Freestyle phenom Wang Shasha wowing fans with repertoire of tricks and flicks

At an ongoing charity soccer tournament in Shaanxi province, Wang Shasha wowed the spectators not just because she was the only female player on the pitch but also because she was one of the best.

The 30-year-old, a teacher at Xi'an Sports College, is by now well used to the adulation after her freestyle soccer skills propelled to her internet fame. The former professional player now boasts over 230,000 followers on Douyin, the Chinese video-sharing platform run by TikTok's parent company ByteDance.

"I hope more and more young people, especially girls, will fall in love with soccer and seek a beautiful life through me sharing my story online," Wang told Xinhua.

Chinese women's soccer legend Sun Wen, who captained the national team to runner-up finishes at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 1999 World Cup, has been Wang's idol since she was a little girl. Inspired by the exploits of the Sun-led 'Steel Roses', Wang fell in love with sports and was urged to play soccer by her PE teacher when she was in third grade.

Wang won the hearts of the spectators in the stands with her outstanding performances, but she couldn't win the support of her mother, who subscribed to the traditional view that girls should be elegant and focus on their academic studies. Wang only managed to changed her mom's mind when her soccer skills helped her earn an offer from a top high school.

At the age of 16, Wang was selected for Shaanxi's provincial youth team. Later she joined a professional club in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

However, two years later, just as Wang look poised to break into the national youth squad, injuries struck to halt her progress. "It was a difficult time for me. After thinking hard for almost a week, I decided to retire and go to college," Wang said.

Ending her professional playing career, however, didn't mean the end of her soccer journey.

On the contrary, it was a brand new start as Wang became a soccer teacher after graduation. "A professional player's career can be short, but by following this path, soccer will always be a part of my life," she said.

Wang's tireless efforts to promote the game she loves include posting short videos online. In the summer of 2018, a video of Wang's ball-juggling skills against the backdrop of Xi'an's ancient city wall generated 10 million views.

To attract more teenage followers, Wang began to play freestyle soccer. She practices for three hours a day, and spends another three hours recording and editing short videos.

"Soccer is my best friend. Although it's time-consuming to make the videos, my passion for the sport has driven me to keep at it," Wang said.

Freestyle soccer is sometimes dismissed as being too focused on the solo performance and, therefore, offers little of value for the team game from which it derives. However, Wang believes practicing freestyle skills can help improve a player's touch in regular matches. With that in mind, she is developing freestyle training programs for her students.

"Freestyle soccer is attractive to the mainstream audience so it can help promote the game," she said.

Along with her students, Wang performed her stunning freestyle tricks at a gala to launch the one-year countdown to the 2021 China National Games on Sept 15.

At the Shaanxi charity tournament, Wang helped her teammates raise more than three million yuan (around $440,000) to support the education of poor students in the province.

"I hope I can do good for society," she said. "I also hope more talented girls can stand on the soccer pitch so that one day our Steel Roses will return to their former glories."

Xinhua