Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

The news of the Chinese delegation winning gold medals is both an inspiration and a source of considerable pressure for the athletes.

"Forget about the gold medal. We'd be lucky to even make it to the semifinals and get a bronze!"

"You're still thinking about getting a card? Think about how to play well in tomorrow's game first!"

Brazil is, after all, one of the top teams in football. Although this is not the same Brazilian team that came to the World Cup, about half of the players on this team are from the Brazilian national team.

Facing such a renowned team, which is considered a nemesis of the Chinese national team, public opinion before the match clearly did not favor the Chinese Olympic team to win.

[This Brazilian team's attacking line is too formidable; I don't think the Chinese Olympic team can withstand their offensive onslaught!]

[If Ronaldinho isn't in top form, there might still be a chance, since the Belgian almost did it before. But if Ronaldinho is in great form, then it's basically over!]

Ronaldinho is only 28 years old this year and is still in the prime of his career.

Although his performance for both the national team and club has declined compared to his peak in the last season, fans are still wary of him.

This man was once the greatest footballer in the world; we can't be too careful.

Let's try our best to draw. Even a single point against Brazil would be a huge boost for the Chinese national team's chances of advancing!

We also need to keep an eye on the New Zealand match later. If they can pull off an upset and beat or draw against Belgium, the Chinese Olympic team's chances of qualifying will be even greater!

[Sigh, if only our schedule had arranged for us to play Brazil in the last round!]

Yes, if the second match were against Belgium, we could benefit from Belgium's two players being suspended. If we could use that as a breakthrough to defeat them, then the Chinese team would have already qualified for the knockout stage before facing Brazil, and there wouldn't be as much pressure to achieve results against Brazil!

……

On the afternoon of August 10, the national Olympic team arrived at the Shenyang Olympic Sports Center early by bus to familiarize themselves with the venue and warm up before the match.

More than an hour before the match was scheduled to start, the stands at the Shenyang Olympic Sports Center were already nearly half full.

With the Olympics already underway and all events in full swing, the fact that so many fans still came to support them deeply moved the players, and they trained even harder than usual.

After practicing several sets of dribbling, Lin Feng began practicing free kicks.

Against a top team like Brazil, there might not be many opportunities for positional play, but set pieces are definitely a must.

The battle for midfield in this match is sure to be intense, and the opposing team will try everything to limit you, including resorting to fouling tactics.

This will give the Chinese team plenty of free-kick opportunities. They should practice more now to get a feel for the game, and maybe they'll be able to use it when they go on the field later.

What is Lin Feng doing?

[They're probably practicing free kicks, right?]

[His free kicks are already so strong, does he still need to practice?]

"Isn't that obvious? Without his rigorous training, how could he have delivered such breathtaking free-kick performances in matches?"

Lin Feng is so famous that many fans came to the stadium specifically to see him.

Seeing his free kicks go in one after another, and each one so accurate and tricky, more and more fans couldn't help but be drawn to Lin Feng's performance.

[Awesome! That free kick was like it had eyes; it was incredibly accurate!]

"Absolutely! Not only is it accurate, but it also has a lot of tricks up its sleeve. That was a free kick, this is a leaf kick, and before that, it was an S-shaped free kick... It feels like Lin Feng's arsenal is overflowing with all sorts of weapons!"

This statement was echoed by many around him, as they had no idea what method Lin Feng would use before he took the free throw.

Some people can be called free-kick masters simply because they specialize in one type of free-kick technique.

Lin Feng is proficient in so many types of free kicks; no wonder he was able to break Juninho's single-season free kick goal record.

For many, this was their first time watching a game live.

I had only seen Lin Feng's free kicks on TV before, and at that time I just thought he was very accurate.

Upon arriving at the scene, it was discovered that Lin Feng's free kicks were not only accurate but also incredibly powerful and extremely fast.

Without the slow-motion replay on TV, many people couldn't even clearly see Lin Feng's goal; they only heard a 'bang,' and when they looked at the goal, the ball was already inside.

The intense visual and auditory impact left them quite shocked.

Indeed, football is best enjoyed live; the passion and intense visual impact of the game are something you simply can't experience on television.

Lin Feng practiced very seriously, and the fans in the stands watched very seriously as well.

But in the other half, Brazil's captain Ronaldinho was also watching very intently.

"This guy's free kicks are a huge threat. During the game, pay attention to where you foul him and don't give him free kick opportunities easily!"

Ronaldinho had experienced Lin Feng's prowess firsthand in La Liga and was quite wary of his free kicks.

Although the Brazilian team is stronger than the Chinese team overall, free kicks are only related to the ability of the taker and have little to do with the overall strength of the team.

If the opponent is given enough free kick opportunities, Lin Feng can completely rewrite the outcome of the game on his own!

Therefore, the Brazilian team must reduce the number of fouls and avoid giving the opponent direct free kicks.

Time flew by, and after both teams had finished getting used to the field and warming up, they returned to their respective locker rooms to make their final adjustments before the game.

Klaus Toppmöller is not a head coach who is good at giving speeches in the locker room to boost the team's morale.

So after simply reiterating his tactics and the precautions to take on the field, he left the time to the players.

Seeing the tense atmosphere in the locker room, Lin Feng felt it was necessary to say a few words as the team captain.

So he stood up and clapped his hands vigorously:
"Hey guys, listen up!"

Everyone put down their work and looked at him with suspicion.

"I know that the name of the Brazilian team has scared a lot of people, and the various reports from the outside world these days are not optimistic about us, but I want to say, to hell with the Brazilian team, to hell with all kinds of media, the outcome of the game is decided by us players, not by the mouths and pens of the media."

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Lin Feng in disbelief.

In their impression, Lin Feng had always been a refined and easy-going person, and they rarely saw him swear.

"The Brazilian team is very strong, but that's the Brazilian national team, not the Brazilian Olympic team in front of us. This Brazilian team doesn't have Ronaldo, Rivaldo, or Kaká, the current number one player in Brazilian football. They only have an aging Ronaldinho who is past his prime."

On the other hand, most of our team consists of the national team's main players.

Two years ago, Brazil's full-strength team barely managed to defeat us. Now, with most of our national team's main players, we can definitely challenge Brazil's Olympic team, which is at most half the strength of Brazil's national team.

Three years ago, we were able to beat Brazil 4-0 in the World Youth Championship, and we can do it again today!

Lin Feng's words resonated with many people, and the veteran players who had fought alongside him all the way from the World Youth Championships were especially inspired by his words.

Three years ago, the Chinese youth team, against all odds, first defeated Brazil, then Argentina, and miraculously won the championship.

There's even less reason for us to back down today!
"Well said! In this competition, we want the world to know that we're not here to play second fiddle; we're here for the medals!"

Li Weifeng was the first to stand up and loudly echo his opinion. Although he had previously argued with Lin Feng over the appointment of the national Olympic team captain, at this crucial moment, he put aside all conflicts and prejudices and firmly stood on Lin Feng's side.

"We've faced the Brazilian team before, so why are we afraid of the Brazilian Olympic team? Everyone knows what Ronaldinho's form was like in the first game. Let me tell you, he's maintained this level at the club level all season, otherwise Barcelona wouldn't have been in such a hurry to sell him!"

Feng Xiaoting was the second to stand up and express his support for Lin Feng, and as a teammate of Lin Feng, he dropped a bombshell on everyone – Ronaldinho is no longer at his peak!
With Li Weifeng's support and Feng Xiaoting's revelations, the atmosphere in the locker room gradually became more lively.

Everyone chimed in, brainstorming and analyzing the weaknesses of the Brazilian team, and discussing how to exploit those weaknesses to defeat them.

The tense, almost frozen atmosphere from before had completely disappeared.

Outside the locker room, Klaus Toppmöller pressed his ear to the crack in the door to eavesdrop on the sounds inside. Seeing that Lin Feng had successfully boosted the team's morale, a smile appeared on his face.

I definitely made the right choice in selecting myself as captain.

If any other member of the team had said those words, they wouldn't have had the same effect as Lin Feng.

As the Chinese national football team members left the locker room in high spirits, the Brazilian team on the opposite side also just came out of their locker room.

The Brazilians, who expected their opponents to be nervous, uneasy, or even fearful, could hardly believe their eyes when they saw the Chinese players proudly raising their heads, radiating confidence.

what happened?

Shouldn't the Chinese be terrified when facing our powerful Brazilian team?

Why do they seem so high-spirited?

No, it must be an act!
In reality, I was terrified!

Once they got on the field and experienced firsthand how good the Brazilian team was, they couldn't keep up the act anymore.

A moment later, led by the referee team, the two teams stepped onto the field.

As soon as they entered the stadium, deafening cheers erupted from the stands.

Although fans felt that the Chinese Olympic team was in a tough spot in this match, it did not affect their continued support for the Chinese team.

Compared to the previous match, there were more foreign spectators in the stands, including about three or four thousand Brazilian fans waving Brazilian flags.

As a football powerhouse, Brazilians are clearly much more passionate about football than New Zealanders.

In the last match against New Zealand, there were only a few New Zealand fans scattered in the stands.

Besides Brazilian fans, there were also many foreign fans who did not wave their national flags or wear the jerseys of the Rehe team to watch the game.

These people are most likely there because of the star players on the court.

With players like Lin Feng, Ronaldinho, Pato, Anderson, and Marcelo, this match boasts a truly impressive roster of stars.

Compared to the previous match, the starting lineup for the Chinese team remained largely unchanged, with the only exception being the replacement of Cui Peng with Zhao Xuri in the defensive midfield position.

Dong Fangzhuo remains the lone striker in the forward line, while Gao Lin, although recovered from injury, was not included in the starting lineup and was placed on the bench by Klaus Toppmöller.

On the Brazilian side, stars such as Ronaldinho, Diego, Pato, Marcelo, and Anderson all started the game.

Dunga really didn't underestimate the Chinese team at all, and sent out his full-strength lineup to face them.

It's worth mentioning that Ronaldinho was the captain of the Brazilian team at this Olympics.

The scene of Lin Feng and Xiao Luo exchanging team flags and taking a group photo before the match was captured by countless cameras and became a classic moment of the game.

After the match began, the Chinese team deliberately showed weakness, retreating to their own half and adopting a defensive counter-attacking strategy.

When Brazil's head coach Dunga saw this, he not only didn't frown, but instead let out a long sigh of relief.

He was actually a little afraid that the Chinese team would attack and engage in a fierce midfield battle with them.

The previous match against Belgium proved that this Brazilian team is not actually very comfortable with this kind of physical combat.

The world only saw that Belgium received two red cards, but they didn't see that Brazil also received multiple cards for fouls in midfield.

If the Belgians hadn't been so unlucky, the Brazilian players might have been the first to receive a red card.

The vast majority of Chinese fans expressed their support for the Chinese team's choice, and not a single boo was heard from the stadium.

Many even felt that the Chinese team hadn't been aggressive enough and should have retreated further, perhaps even parking the bus in their own penalty area!
Regardless of whether it looks good or not, getting even one point is a victory.

Even so, the Brazilian team's head coach was still uneasy.

Seeing that the Chinese team had taken the initiative to tighten their formation, the Brazilian team did not rush to launch an attack.

After the start of the game, Brazil adopted a steady ball control tactic, frequently passing the ball around in midfield and even in their own half, in order to test whether the Chinese team was really determined to defend.

If the Chinese team can't hold back and rushes out to intercept and fight when the opponent passes the ball around, then the Brazilian team can take advantage of the gaps exposed when the opponent's formation moves up to launch an attack.

If the Chinese team doesn't press forward, the Brazilian team can confidently push their full-backs up on both sides, further increasing the number of attackers and utilizing the full-backs' offensive prowess to create opportunities from the flanks.

Regardless of the choice made by the Chinese team, the final result will be in the favor of the Brazilian team.

However, under Dunga's expectant gaze, the Chinese team's formation remained unchanged, showing neither an intention to push forward nor to retreat.

Dunga frowned slightly, but still gave the order to attack. (End of Chapter)