Taking on the role of China National women's football team head coach with a deep sense of determination and purpose, Ante Milicic embarks on a new journey driven by the desire to challenge himself.

"I think as a coach, you always want to challenge yourself and I think this will be an exciting project," Milicic told Xinhua before his public debut at a press conference on May 23 during an eight-day training camp in Xianghe, Hebei Province.

Ante Milicic (L), head coach of China national women's football team, and captain Wu Haiyan attend a press conference prior to a friendly against Australia in Adelaide, Australia, on May 30, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Sida)

"I get to understand more about this position when I went through the interview process with the Chinese Football Association (CFA). When you go through that process, you become confident in yourself that you can really make an impact with this national team," said the Australian.

Drawing on his vast experience, which includes leading Australia's women's national team to the round of 16 at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup and serving as an assistant coach for Australia's men's team under both Ange Postecoglou and Bert van Marwijk, Milicic emphasized the importance of having a clear vision and playing philosophy.

"The more I've been watching the Chinese national team play, it's very clear that they have a very good discipline and very good structure. They follow instructions really well," Milicic noted. "I believe we have some good technical players that will enjoy playing a more of a passing game and more controlling the game."

Milicic admits that the priority now is for the players and coaching team to get to know each other and develop a clear understanding.

"The short-term goal is to first get a good understanding of the girls, where they are playing, and at what level, but also for them to get to know me and my staff. This way, we can work together, keep improving, and maintain good communication," said the 50-year-old.

"And then if you look at the long term, we have to be ready for the Asian Cup. We need to put ourselves in a position where we have a clear way of playing. So when the Chinese public sees the Chinese women's national team playing, they know what to expect. That's my job, to bring a modern way of playing to this team," he added.

Under Milicic's predecessor Shui Qingxia, the Steel Roses won the Asian Cup after a 16-year wait, but then suffered early exits at the Women's World Cup and the Paris Olympic Asian qualifiers, which kept China out of major international tournaments until the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup and the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup at the earliest.

"We are planning a lot with the CFA and my staff to watch as many games as possible live to have a bigger pool of players that we are monitoring," Milicic explained. "Because football is a game of opinions, and we might see something different. The more girls we can bring into a training camp and expose them to this environment, I think it helps everyone."

"I think we have to try to build a team [to show up] when all the big tournaments are there. You don't want to be an up-and-down team, you want to try to have consistency," he said.

After the training camp, the team traveled to Australia for an invitational tournament running from May 27 to June 5. With very limited preparation time for the newly-appointed coach, Milicic is well-aware of the challenges that lie ahead.

"I'm a new coach with the team and [the players] only have six or seven days with me. But Australia is together now with a coach for four years and Australia is getting ready for the Paris Olympics," Milicic said.

"Two teams are in different stages, but I have to tell our team to focus on ourselves, and try to do what we spoke about earlier. Can we maybe have a little bit more possession? Can we maybe play further up the pitch? Can we work on a few things we've done at training?"

"It's going to be difficult, but we will give everything we can to make it a really difficult game for Australia," he added.

"The women's game is improving very quickly around the world, especially in Europe. So you have to see how we close that gap," Milicic introduced.

"And that's interesting when you are a coach of a national team. You depend a lot on what the players do in their club. So we have to make sure that the level is good of the training and competition they get in the club," he added.

In Milicic's 27-player squad for the invitational tournament, seven are playing overseas. But six of them, according to Milicic, are "not getting the minutes that they need."

Those include star forward Wang Shuang who plays for Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton right-back Li Mengwen, Shen Mengyu and Shen Menglu at Scottish Premier League club Celtic, French first division side Dijon midfielder Wu Chengshu, and Tang Jiali at FC Levante Las Planas in Spain.

The only exception is Australian Central Coast Mariners forward Wurigumula, as the 27-year-old started 21 games in the 2023-24 season with eight goals and two assists.

Despite the challenges, Milicic believes it is still beneficial for them to play outside of China, as they "see different coaches, play with players from different countries, so they are getting a good understanding."

"But then the most important step for these girls is to get game time. So sometimes they have to be very careful which clubs they choose. It's more important. You go somewhere where the coach really wants you, and he sees you in his plans than just going anywhere," he added. 

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