Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games lasted for more than four hours, ending in the early hours of August 9th.

Considering that the national Olympic team will face Brazil, the strongest team in the group, tomorrow, they only have about one day to prepare.

Since there were no flights at night and taking a bus was too slow, the national Olympic team, after consulting with the delegation officials, decided to stay overnight in the Olympic Village.

After dawn the next day, take the earliest flight back to Shenyang.

This ensures that players get enough rest while minimizing fatigue during the journey.

After all, traveling by bus or train would take too long and be too physically demanding for the players, making it completely impractical.

Even with such a tight schedule, by the time the national Olympic team returned to the training base, it was already noon on August 9th.

There are less than 30 hours left until the next match.

"Get moving, get running!"

"Warm up first, get your body moving, and don't strain yourself!"

The German coach rolled up his sleeves and personally stood on the sidelines to supervise the players' training.

Tomorrow's match against Brazil will be the toughest opponent he has faced since he took over as coach of the national Olympic team.

Despite having experience leading the national youth team to victory in the World Youth Championship, Klaus Toppmöller still felt somewhat uncertain.

The World Youth Championships are different from the Olympics, and past experience may not be effective.

Young players under 20 years old have not yet fully developed their skills and physiques, and lack match experience. The gap in strength between them is not that large, and the matches have a greater element of chance.

However, by the age of 23, players' skills are already fully developed, their bodies have fully matured, and many have even established themselves in teams in the top five leagues, accumulating rich match experience.

In this situation, the gap in strength between strong and weak teams becomes very obvious, and the element of chance in the game is greatly reduced compared to the youth team era.

Moreover, the IOC's allowance for three over-age players further strengthens the team's overall strength.

Many strong teams select their three best players from their national teams to join, building their tactical system around them and further amplifying their advantages.

Therefore, compared to the quarterfinals of the World Youth Championship three years ago when they faced Brazil, the gap in strength between the Chinese and Brazilian teams has widened further.

That time, the Chinese team was able to take advantage of Brazil's underestimation of them and the outstanding performance of Lin Feng, their surprise weapon, to eliminate Brazil. This time, however, things might not be the same.

"Sir, are you confident about tomorrow's match?"

Assistant coach Weitz came closer, observing the old man's expression as he cautiously inquired.

Klaus Toppmöller shook his head: "Who can predict a football match before it starts? To say I'm confident would be a lie."

"But it's unrealistic to say we have absolutely no confidence, after all, we have Lin!"

Watching Lin Feng's earnest training figure on the court, Klaus Toppmöller felt a surge of pride and honor.

It was he who defied all opposition to discover Lin Feng from the German second division and brought him to the World Youth Championship.

This decision initially met with tremendous resistance; members of the Chinese coaching staff and leaders of the Football Association protested to him, but Klaus Toppmöller withstood the pressure.

Subsequent events proved his decision to be extremely wise. It was thanks to Lin Feng's miraculous intervention that the Chinese team was able to reverse the situation and eliminate the German team, advancing all the way to the finals and lifting the first world-class championship trophy in Chinese football history.

The youth team he trained joined the national team in the following years and brought their success in the World Youth Championship to the national team, helping the Chinese team win many championship trophies such as the East Asian Cup, East Asian Games and Asian Cup, bringing Chinese football to a new level.

Klaus Toppmöller is not a superstitious person, but even though he knows that his team is not as strong as his opponents on paper, he still has full confidence in his players!
Especially their captain—Lin Feng!
With him on the team, no matter how strong the opponent, the Chinese team has a chance to create miracles!
"What happened to the information I was asked to collect?"

Klaus Toppmöller turned around, stared intently at his assistant, and reached out to ask for the documents.

"Uh, the information is with Roger. I'll go get him right now!"

Weitz ran away as soon as he finished speaking, not giving Klaus Schön a chance to lash out.

A moment later, a man in his early forties, with hair wax and a middle parting, came up to Klaus Toppmöller.

"Boss, here are the game footage and tactical analysis report you requested."

Roger Schmidt respectfully handed the documents to Klaus Toppmöller.

Looking at the other person's dark circles, Klaus Toppmöller was a little angry:
"Did that guy Weitz dump all the work on you?"

Schmidt was a little surprised: "Huh? Wasn't this a task you assigned me separately? And you even said it was a test for me to join the team!"

Klaus Toppmöller gritted his teeth in anger. "You're a newcomer. Do you think I would entrust such an important task to you?"

This isn't the kind of test you should be given!

In such a crucial match, if he had the time, Klaus Toppmöller would have personally gone to the stadium to gather information on the Brazilian team.

What exactly has Weitz been doing behind my back? How could he entrust such an important task to a newcomer? Can he do it well?

But after casually glancing through it a few times, Klaus Schwarz fell silent, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. He subconsciously looked up at Schmidt:
Is this really something written by a newbie?

……

While the Chinese team was busy preparing for the match, the Brazilian team was also busy preparing.

For the Brazilian team, which has won the World Cup five times, failing to win an Olympic gold medal is a disgrace for this football powerhouse.

Therefore, the Brazilian team attaches great importance to this Olympic Games.

Not only is the national team's head coach Dunga personally in charge, but all the strongest active players who can be called up have also been brought along.

The only regret is probably not being able to bring Kaká, his key attacking player in the national team.

Limited by the three over-age slots, Dunga chose two forwards, Ronaldinho and Robinho, and an over-age defender, Thiago Silva, and was forced to give up Kaká.

In fact, Dunga hesitated for a long time between choosing Ronaldinho and Kaká.

Ronaldinho's form has been less than ideal since last year.

Whether at the club or the national team, his performance has not been as amazing as before.

However, considering Ronaldinho's enormous influence and his help in stabilizing the locker room and intimidating young players.

He ultimately chose Ronaldinho. After all, Ronaldinho is currently in the prime of his career, and barring any major injuries, he remains a reliable and promising player.

Even without Kaká, Dunga was determined to lead the Brazilian team to achieve their dream of winning the Olympic gold medal.

Therefore, he dared not relax for a moment.

Regarding Brazil's next opponent, China, Dunga showed no contempt for the Chinese team simply because they came from Asia, a region with a relatively underdeveloped football culture.

This team thrashed Brazil 4-0 in the World Youth Championship three years ago, although only three players from that Brazilian youth team were selected for this year's Brazilian Olympic team.

But the fact that the Chinese team was able to defeat them, and by such a large margin, shows that their strength should not be underestimated.

Moreover, the opposing team also has Lin Feng, a player hailed as a prodigy among the younger generation, which should raise even greater concerns for the Brazilian team.

The Brazilian coaching staff had been collecting information on the Chinese team for a long time, including some of their matches.

According to Dunga, the Chinese team, which uses a large number of the same players, is essentially an enhanced version of the Olympic team, and the Olympic team is likely to adopt the same tactics as the Chinese team.

So what tactics does the Chinese team employ?

The Brazilians were dumbfounded after studying the situation, because they discovered that the Chinese team had no tactics at all!
Zhu Guanghu is practically a poor man's version of Ancelotti; he's incredibly agile.

The opponent is strong, so I retreated to my own half to defend steadily and threatened them with counter-attacks.

The opponent was weak, so I launched a strong attack, overwhelming them with high-pressing and aggressive tactics.

My opponent's strength is about the same as mine, so I'll use whatever I have.

When the wingers are in good form, they should primarily play on the wing.

If the central players are in good form, then go all out in the midfield, fight for possession, and create more attacking opportunities to defeat the opponent...

In short, his coaching style is not bound by rigid dogma and is very flexible and adaptable.

After discovering that studying Ancelotti... oops, I mean, Zhu Guanghu was useless, Dunga refocused his attention on Klaus Toppmöller.

This old man didn't coach in Europe for very long; he coached overseas more often.

This old man started coaching as early as forty years ago. As soon as he took office, he led the South Korean team to the final of the World Youth Championship and won the runner-up title in both the World Youth Championship and the Asian Cup.

He then led Kenya to win the Africa Challenge Cup, helped Canada make a historic run for the World Cup, returned to Germany to help 1860 Munich get promoted to the Bundesliga, and then left Europe again for Asia.

He coached in Saudi Arabia and Japan, and during that time he also helped Tunisia qualify for the World Cup.

Nearing retirement, he was rehired by the Chinese team to help them qualify for the World Youth Championship and miraculously win the title.

After reading the old man's resume, Deng Jia could only think of two words to describe it: amazing!
The breadth of the opponent's coaching scope and the number of teams he coached were unprecedented in his life.

You could say this old man is capable, but he can't establish himself in Europe, especially in the top five leagues.

Klaus Toppmöller led three different 2. Bundesliga teams to promotion to the Bundesliga, but he was soon dismissed by the teams after the promotion.

You're saying he's incompetent?
He was recommended by FIFA as a coach to help football develop in Asia and Africa, and helped Canada and Tunisia qualify for the World Cup.

Because of his extensive experience, Klaus Toppmöller's coaching style has changed dramatically over time.

Because he was German, his early coaching style was very German, emphasizing teamwork and discipline, and stressing speed and transitions between offense and defense.

But after spending more time overseas, his coaching style has changed.

This old man is good at training young players and instilling them with advanced European football concepts.

Despite his age, the old man's thinking is not rigid at all.

Seeing the strength of Spanish football, he emphasized the tradition of German football while incorporating some advanced Western football concepts, stressing ball control and ground passing, which is also the mainstream development direction of football today.

Because the German coach's tactical style is versatile, and the first match was against New Zealand, the weakest team in the group, the Chinese team's true tactics were hardly revealed.

This makes it difficult for him to predict what tactics his opponent will use against him in the next match.

However, Dunga has great confidence in the Brazilian team's strength and believes that the Chinese team will most likely adopt a solid defensive strategy to deal with the Brazilian team's attack.

But if the other party actually does that, then you've been tricked.

Almost all of Brazil's star players are on the attacking line. If the opponent gives up space and possession of the ball to let them attack, apart from Italy, which is best at defense, no other team can stop Brazil's attack. So Dunga is actually hoping that the opponent will do so.

In his view, offense is the best defense. Brazil's back line is not strong. If the opponent intensifies their attack, Brazil will inevitably be unable to devote all their energy to launching an attack due to defensive problems.

In this way, their offensive power will be greatly reduced, and they may not be able to defeat their opponents.

However, we cannot let our guard down. When the Chinese team counters, they pose a great threat because of Lin Feng, a top-class passer in football.

Even if the Chinese team plays a defensive counter-attacking strategy, the Brazilian team must remain vigilant and keep a close eye on the opponent's attacking players, especially Lin Feng, and not give them any opportunities.

Brazil is determined to win this match; if they do, they will advance to the knockout stage with one game to spare.

Then we can properly study our opponents in the knockout stage. Based on the group draw, Brazil's opponents in the knockout stage will most likely be South Korea or Cameroon from Group D.

Of course, the possibility of Italy failing cannot be ruled out, but if that happens, it might lead to the situation that Brazil least wants to see.

Nobody wants to face Italy in the knockout stage; they're like a hard, smelly rock that will break any attacker's teeth.

Although the Brazilian team doesn't fear Italy as much as the German team does, they still wouldn't fare well if they did face them.

Their goal is to win the final championship, and if they expend too much energy in the quarterfinals, it could have a negative impact on them.

……

While both teams were actively preparing, other Olympic events were in full swing.

8月9日，在BJ航空航天大学体育馆进行的女子举重48公斤级决赛中，陈燮霞以总成绩212公斤拿下女子48公斤级金牌。

This was the first gold medal for the Chinese team at the Beijing Olympics, but it wasn't the only achievement for the Chinese team that day.

A few hours later at another venue, Chinese athlete Pang Wei won the gold medal in the men's 10-meter air rifle final with a score of 688.2, helping the Chinese team win its second gold medal at the Beijing Olympics!

On the first day of the Olympics, the Chinese delegation, with a total of 2 gold medals, surpassed a host of sporting powerhouses including the United States, Russia, and Germany, taking the top spot! (End of Chapter)