Shui Qingxia, manager of the United Team at the women's football event at the Chinese National Games in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, shared the story of how she led her squad to win the gold medal in an interview with Guangzhou-based sports newspaper Soccer News.

Back in August, Shui took over a team that finished the Tokyo Olympics winless and allowing 17 goals. "I was told at the last moment to coach the United Team. The coaching staff came from the top three teams at the last National Games," said Shui. "I'm the manager. The goalkeeper coach and assistant manager are from Jiangsu. The team leader is from Hebei."

Shui revealed that they only had three weeks for training and practice and all sessions were intense. "We had no idea how they looked like after 21 days of quarantine," said Shui, who wanted to help the players shake off the dust in Tokyo as soon as possible. She believes it's unfair to blame the national team for the disappointing result at the Olympics.

Shui told her players at their first meeting she wanted them to show more positive spirits. "We are the national team. Everybody is looking at us," said Shui.

Shui was glad to see that her players all worked hard in training. Of course, she did more than give them mental massages. "I asked them to raise their heads before passing. We also made special arrangements for free kicks and corner kicks."

The United Team defeated Shanghai in the final. Shui was Shanghai's manager before taking over the United Team. "There's nothing wrong with leading a new team to play against an old team I had coached for so long. But since I was the United Team's manager, I surely wanted them to make the best performance on the field. I'm fully invested in coaching the United Team," said Shui.

There has been a lot of speculation about who will become the new manager of the national team since the Olympics. Shui admitted that she won't say no if offered the job.

"It will be an honor to coach the national team. Every manager wants to do something for their country. It's a duty that, if possible, I want to shoulder," added Shui.

At the end of the interview, Shui called for more understanding and support for Chinese women's football. 

"I want to thank all the fans for their attention to the women's national team. I hope you can go easy on them. They are all professional players and give their best in the game. Every one of them is trying to improve their performance. They are all working hard, trying to move forward. We should give them more tolerance and time. No one can win forever. Heavyweights from the top European leagues, Spain, Brazil, they all lose. We can't deny our team for losing at one event and keep blaming them for that. We should give them more applause and encouragement," said Shui.