Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

[The South Korean team has been eliminated? Didn't they boast about teaching the Chinese team a lesson? How come they couldn't even make it out of the group stage?]

[Haha, the South Korean team isn't nearly as strong as they claim. They participated in the World Youth Championship before, and their results were abysmal. If you ask me, this year's Olympic spot should have gone to Saudi Arabia or Iran; maybe those two teams would have a chance to qualify!]

[South Korea is already raving about Park Chu-young, but we have several similar players here. Are we getting arrogant? (Hands on hips)]

Park Chu-young's abilities are just so-so; it's uncertain whether he could even secure a place in Monaco.

[This year's South Korean team really doesn't have any good prospects. Park Chu-young, Lee Chung-yong, Cho Jae-jin, Kim Doo-hyun—they're all just hype!]

Chinese fans' online mockery of the South Koreans was naturally unheard, but that didn't matter. Once it was confirmed that the South Korean team had been eliminated and would not advance to the knockout stage, their own fans were already launching their own attacks online.

"Damn it, these bastards can't even beat Africans! Swim back home, they're a disgrace to the Great Han Ming Kingdom!"

"We strongly demand the revocation of Lee Chung-ryong's pardon. That bastard kicked the ball so badly, why shouldn't he be exempt from military service?"

"The coach should resign and apologize for this. With such a terrible record, how can he have the face to continue as the head coach of the national Olympic team? This is how you squander our taxpayers' money!"

"Ten thousand people have petitioned in blood to disband the national Olympic team!"

……

In fact, it wasn't just the South Korean team that was eliminated; the other Asian team, Japan, was also eliminated in obscurity, finishing last in their group.

Moreover, compared to the South Koreans, the Japanese team's record was even more explosive—they lost all three group stage matches, conceding four goals and scoring only one.

Thankfully they scored a goal, otherwise they would have been left with zero goals.

Watching the Chinese team next door win all three matches and advance with their heads held high, while the other neighbor, the South Korean team, only managed one win and one draw, fighting until the last round before being unfortunately eliminated.

Japanese fans suddenly felt a little panicked; the two neighbors next door had been performing incredibly well in recent years.

The Chinese team, in particular, has not only surpassed the Japanese team at the national team level, but now even at the youth team level, they are leaving the Japanese team far behind.

This created a strong sense of crisis among the Japanese, and Saburo Kawabuchi even urgently organized an internal meeting to discuss how to develop and strengthen Japanese football.

The conclusion reached by the Japanese was to increase international exchanges and send more young players abroad to receive high-level training in the top five European leagues.

In their view, the rapid rise of Chinese football in the past two years is not only due to the emergence of an unparalleled genius like Lin Feng, but also to the Chinese Football Association's strong encouragement of young players to play abroad.

Many players in the current Chinese national team and this Olympic team have experience playing in the top five European leagues.

Long-term exposure to high-level professional training and intense matches can help young players improve rapidly and fully unleash their potential.

These are things you can't do if you stay in your home country!

Asia is called a football desert mainly because the training systems of Asian countries are outdated and backward, and the leagues are of low quality. They are unable to cultivate outstanding players or provide them with enough platforms to showcase their talents.

Playing chess with a bunch of terrible players for a long time will eventually drag even a talented person down to the same level as those around them.

Therefore, the environment is very important. Let young players go abroad more often to exchange ideas, let them see a wider world, and accept advanced European football training concepts. Only in this way can we gradually improve the strength of Asian football and remove the label of "football desert".

Chinese fans didn't realize that this Olympics would actually give the Japanese such a big boost, greatly accelerating their talent exchange program.

In fact, quite a few countries have similar plans, such as neighboring South Korea and Vietnam to the south, which are also engaged in foreign exchanges.

Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia have gone a step further and implemented naturalization programs.

In their view, instead of painstakingly cultivating domestic talent, it would be better to spend money to recruit mercenaries from abroad, which would yield results in a short period of time and be simpler and more direct.

……

With the conclusion of the final round of group matches, the list of teams advancing to the quarterfinals of this Olympic Games has been gradually released.

For the first time, Africa has become the largest continent to qualify among these eight teams.

Three African teams, including Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and Nigeria, have advanced to the quarterfinals.

Europe also remains strong, with teams from the Netherlands and Italy advancing.

In South America, both Brazil and Argentina, the two favorites to win the championship, have successfully advanced.

The Chinese team was the only Asian representative, but that wasn't the worst of it. The worst were the teams from Oceania and North America, who were completely wiped out.

Both Australia and the United States finished third in their respective groups and were eliminated in the group stage.

Therefore, the quarterfinal matchups are as follows:
China vs. Cameroon, Brazil vs. Italy

Argentina vs. Netherlands, Nigeria vs. Ivory Coast.

Of these four matches, the two most anticipated are undoubtedly the clashes between Brazil and Italy, and Argentina and the Netherlands.

These four teams are the four favorites with the highest probability of winning the gold medal in this Olympic Games. Their early encounter in the quarterfinals will definitely be a visual and auditory feast that fans cannot miss.

To advance to the semifinals, these four top teams will not hold back and will undoubtedly use all their trump cards to defeat their opponents.

Our match time overlaps with the Italy vs. Brazil match, so we can only watch one game. How annoying!

Brazil excels in attack, while Italy excels in defense. This match between the strongest defense and the strongest offense is sure to be incredibly exciting!

[It was a great match, but unfortunately my heart belongs to the Chinese team, so I'll have to choose not to watch it!]

It's okay, there's another crucial match coming up. Actually, the game between the Netherlands and Argentina is quite unpredictable; both teams seem pretty strong!

The Netherlands has fewer star players, while Argentina seems to have more. Relatively speaking, I think Argentina has a better chance.

Indeed, Argentina cruised through the group stage, winning all three of their matches. In contrast, the Netherlands struggled against Nigeria and the United States, ultimately failing to secure victories in both games. They only managed to take three points against Japan. If the Americans hadn't been reduced to ten men in their final match, it's hard to say who would have advanced.

The chances of this kind of tournament are too high. Just because a team performed poorly in the group stage doesn't mean they'll perform poorly in the knockout stage. Both teams are strong, and anything can happen!

...After the knockout stage, the national Olympic team will finally be moving.

Since the Chinese team's next match was scheduled to be held at the Workers' Stadium in Beijing, they finally moved into the Olympic Village as they had hoped.

"Hehe, welcome, welcome! We've been waiting for you for so long, we thought you weren't coming!"

Liu Xiang and others who were not competing heard that Lin Feng and his team had arrived, so they made a special trip over to greet them and welcome them.

"I watched all your games, you played well! Are you confident for the next game? Want me to come cheer you on?"

Liu Xiang had originally planned to go to the stadium to watch the game, and he had asked Lin Feng to prepare the tickets for him.

However, his coaching team strongly opposed his wandering around, believing that it could bring unnecessary risks.

What if they eat something unclean outside, or are recognized by excited passersby and something happens? How can they explain this to the Olympic delegation and to the people of the whole country?
You should know that there are more than a dozen people across the country waiting to see Liu Xiang take off at the Bird's Nest!
Before that, he couldn't go anywhere; he could only stay obediently in the training base and prepare for the competition.

This monotonous life was driving Liu Xiang crazy, so he used the excuse of welcoming Lin Feng to come over and get some fresh air.

Lin Feng glanced at Liu Xiang. The way Liu Xiang was so eager to help him was clearly not because he wanted to cheer him on, but because he wanted to use Lin Feng as an excuse to get him out of his misery!
"I can get you the tickets, but I can't get Captain Sun to agree to that. You'll have to figure that out yourself!"

"It's no big deal!!"

Liu Xiang patted his chest and turned to discuss the matter with his coaching team.

During this time, he frequently turned back to point towards Lin Feng, probably using his own name to make up a bunch of nonsense excuses.

It is said that Lin Feng invited Liu Xiang to watch the competition, and Feng Shuyong, the leader of Xiang's team, expressed his support for this.

Anyway, the game is in Beijing, so there's no need to travel far. It's just a two or three-hour round trip, including travel time. Consider it a relaxation after training!

Coach Sun Haiping still disagreed, shaking his head and saying:

"No, there are too many people on the field. What if something happens? Who can bear the responsibility?"

"Coach Sun, you don't know this, do you? There are VIP boxes in the stadium. We can buy VIP box tickets so we don't have to worry about being seen by ordinary fans."

Seeing that Coach Sun Haiping's attitude seemed to have softened, Liu Xiang pressed his advantage:
"The national football team finally got to play a game in Beijing, and the next game might be in Shanghai. If we don't take this opportunity to see them live, we won't have another chance to watch them in the future!"

"How about I treat everyone to a relaxing outing? Coach Sun, don't worry, I'll definitely train even harder when I get back!"

After Liu Xiang's persistent pleading, Sun Haiping finally agreed.

Liu Xiang breathed a long sigh of relief and gave Lin Feng a victory sign.

To be honest, Liu Xiang is quite envious of athletes like Lin Feng who are free and unrestrained, without a coaching team to manage them.

Unlike him, who has a whole team following and managing him wherever he goes, leaving him with no freedom whatsoever.

In fact, football players are not free either. When they join a club, they are managed by the club's coaching staff, and when they join the national team, they are watched by the national team's leader and coaching team.

The so-called freedom is nothing more than being able to have a little more freedom during the two holidays of winter break and summer transfer window.

……

Because the move took some time, Klaus Toppmöller didn't give the players any time off.

The knockout stage is about to begin in two days, leaving the Chinese team with little time to prepare.

Unlike the group stage, in the knockout stage, life or death depends on a single match. Losing means elimination, and there will be no chance to make amends.

This means they have no room for error; they must be fully prepared before the match begins, seize every opportunity during the match, and strive to minimize their mistakes to avoid giving their opponents a chance.

In competitions of the level of the Olympics and the World Cup, the intensity of the group stage may be a bit better because the strength of the opponents in the group stage varies.

But once the knockout stage begins, the intensity suddenly increases.

It may seem like the players on both sides aren't doing much, but behind the scenes, the physical confrontation is extremely intense, putting a huge strain on the players' stamina and willpower.

So, whether it's a mule or a horse, you'll know after it takes a spin in a major competition like this.

The team that wins the championship is not necessarily the strongest team, but the weakest team will never have a chance to go all the way.

While this Cameroonian team isn't exactly a title favorite, they're certainly not pushovers either, with over 70% of their players playing in European leagues or even the top five European leagues.

For example, the team's key midfielder Song comes from Arsenal, Banning from Paris Saint-Germain, Mbia from Rennes in Ligue 1, Mandejk from Stuttgart in Bundesliga, and Cedjohnsen from Lille in Ligue 1...

Apart from Song, the others may not be big-name stars, but they are at least at the level of being rotation or substitutes in the top five leagues.

No wonder the South Korean team couldn't beat them. When a team's average strength reaches this level, they will be very competitive not only in the Olympics, but also in the World Cup once these players develop.

"The opposing players are physically strong, their midfield pressing is fierce, their defense is tenacious, and they have even won an Olympic gold medal. They even have a certain psychological advantage. This is a tough nut to crack!"

"So I hope everyone will not take this lightly and will take this game seriously."

The knockout stage is different from the group stage, so Klaus Toppmöller has to use more words.

The players all knew that this match was crucial. If they won, the Chinese team would advance to the semi-finals. Even if they didn't make it to the finals, they would still have a chance to compete for a bronze medal.

Lured by the medals, everyone's enthusiasm for training was extremely high without any encouragement from Klaus Toppmöller. Almost no one was slacking off on the training field, and everyone was working hard.

Klaus Toppmöller was very pleased to see this, and as the Chinese team qualified, expectations for the national Olympic team gradually rose.

People were clearly not satisfied with the quarterfinals; they wanted to at least make it to the semifinals or even win a medal. This had become the bottom line for the vast majority of fans.

However, teams in the knockout stage are not so easy to deal with.
Although the Chinese team does have the advantage in terms of paper strength, Cameroon's style is actually the kind that Asian football players are quite afraid of: technically strong, physically stronger, and characterized by sheer size and raw power. (End of Chapter)