Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Lin Feng was unfamiliar with the situation in the United States, so he contacted David Beckham, who had just joined the Los Angeles Galaxy, intending to use his connections to find a medical expert in this field.

"Okay, leave it to me. I'll call you if I get any news!"

Although they were teammates for only half a year, the two had a good personal relationship.

Lin Feng greatly respects football veterans like Beckham, and has even exchanged ideas and sought advice from him on free kick techniques.

Beckham also greatly admires Lin Feng, even believing that he will become a leader among the younger generation who will guide the development of football, and regards him as a close friend despite their age difference.

One of the main reasons Beckham joined Inter Milan was because of Lin Feng.

Later, he left Inter Milan for MLS, and Lin Feng's departure was one of the important reasons.

"Thank you so much, Brother Beckham. I'll treat you to dinner when you go back to Europe!"

"Hehe, I'm waiting for you! Little Lin, cheer up, don't embarrass us, and try to bring back an Olympic gold medal to complete your Grand Slam!"

"Brother, you really think highly of me. I could never win a Grand Slam!"

Beckham's "Grand Slam" clearly refers to winning all major international competitions such as the World Youth Championship, the Olympic Games, the Asian Cup, and the World Cup.

For most players, the most difficult tournament is the World Youth Championship, because there is only one chance to participate, and once you miss it, it's gone forever.

But for a player like Lin Feng, who comes from a weak footballing nation, the World Cup is an insurmountable obstacle.

With the current lineup of the Chinese team, making it out of the group stage is already the limit. Expecting them to go further would require exceptionally good luck and a particularly favorable draw in the knockout stage.

Even reaching the quarterfinals of the World Cup depends on luck, so what makes us think about winning the championship?

So unless Chinese football produces a few more players of Lin Feng's caliber, winning the World Cup is simply out of the question.

"It's all about human effort, don't be so pessimistic, what if you succeed!?"

Beckham said with a smile, though he himself felt it was unrealistic.

If Lin Feng joins the England team and solves England's long-standing problem of lacking an organizing midfielder, then there might actually be a chance.

If Lin Feng knew what Beckham was thinking, he would definitely scoff at it.

Is the problem with the England team that they don't have a good midfielder?
Although the England team seems to have always lacked a creative number 10, the biggest problem for the England team has always been the poor performance of local coaches, as well as the incompetent but talkative legends and media.

Fleet Street media deliberately exaggerated or even distorted the facts in order to boost newspaper sales.

If a local player performs even slightly well, the media shamelessly touts them as a future English superstar, a Ballon d'Or candidate, or a future football king, and then uses this to blackmail the head coach's player selection, causing the coach to be hesitant and afraid to offend anyone.

When we win, it's all the players' credit; when we lose, it's all the coach's fault.

In addition, influenced by the Premier League, the England team is divided into factions. The fatal flaw is that the British football world lacks a coach with prestige and ability to control the situation. Not only is the team unable to unite, but the lack of authority also prevents them from controlling the dressing room, leading to the farcical situation of the nine princes vying for the throne.

The reason why the England team is called the China of Europe is simply because the two teams have exactly the same problems.

A terrible media environment, incompetent local coaches, unscrupulous media outlets stirring up trouble, and complex player factions and locker room dynamics.

With so many debuffs, it's naturally difficult to achieve good results.

……

"Sigh, I really didn't expect that the sheer size of our country could sometimes become a source of trouble!"

Because the next match was to be held in Shanghai, the Chinese team had to fly to Shanghai immediately after finishing the quarterfinals to prepare for the Olympic semifinals.

Back then, the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway hadn't opened yet, so long-distance travel could only be done by plane.

However, flying is also quite troublesome. Security checks and waiting before boarding, as well as flight delays that may occur at any time, can consume a lot of players' energy and waste a lot of time.

After arriving at the destination, one still needs to transfer by car from a remote airport to reach the final destination.

Shanghai's traffic is already congested, and if you're unlucky enough to get stuck in traffic, you'll waste even more time.

If this Olympics were held in a small country like Greece, like the previous Athens Olympics, then there would be no such trouble at all.

The Chinese team has been fighting their way from north to south in this Olympics, from Shenyang to Beijing to Shanghai. If they make it to the finals, they'll have to go back to Beijing.

"Fortunately, this is just the Olympics, so there are relatively few participating teams. If the World Cup were to be held in China someday, there would probably be even more venues, and we would really have to travel all over the country!"

"We won't be hosting the World Cup anytime soon, will we?"

"It's hard to say. We're definitely out of luck for 2010 and 2014. The bidding process for the 2018 World Cup will begin next January. If we achieve good results at this Olympics, the leaders of the Football Association and the General Administration of Sport might actually have that idea!"

"It would be best if we could win the bid. It's always better to play the World Cup at home than abroad!"

"I think it's unlikely. There's an unwritten rule about the World Cup: one out of every three World Cups will be held in Europe. The next World Cup will be in Africa, and the one after that in Brazil. So, it's highly probable that the 2018 World Cup will be held in Europe."

"If 2018 doesn't work out, there's always 2022!"

"Haha, are you sure you'll still be playing football in 2022? You've probably already retired by now, haven't you?"

Most of the players present were born between 1985 and 1988. If we wait until 2022, they will all be in their mid-thirties and will indeed have to retire.

"Hiss, doesn't this mean our hopes of finding a loophole and taking a shortcut to qualify for the World Cup are dashed?"

"Look at your pathetic self, can't we just rely on our own strength to make it into the World Cup?"

……

The plane was very fast, and there were no unexpected delays or other disruptions to the flight.

Amidst the casual conversation, the plane arrived at its destination and landed at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport.

Because the national Olympic team's itinerary is public, their flight information had already been leaked long ago.

So when they landed at Hongqiao Airport, thousands of fans and reporters were already waiting in the arrival hall.

"Why are there so many people again? Are they all here for us?"

Compared to the national football team, the national Olympic team has far less popularity and influence.

So after seeing this, many players lost their confidence.

"It seems that Shanghai only hosts football matches and no other competitions. This time, only we and the Nigerian team are here to play. Surely they didn't come here specifically for the Nigerian team?"

Lin Feng patted the shoulders of several insecure teammates and strode out with his head held high.

"They're coming!"

"I saw Lin Feng!"

"Wow, he's so handsome in person, even more handsome than in the posters!"

The fans rushed forward, and surprisingly, the ones at the forefront were a group of infatuated girls.

Seeing how enthusiastic these people were, Lin Feng suspected they were there to chase after celebrities!

"This guy has so many female fans, why don't I have so many female fans?" Seeing Lin Feng surrounded by enthusiastic female fans, his teammates' faces twisted with jealousy.

This is so unfair! Why are we greeted by burly men, while Lin Feng is greeted by beautifully dressed young women?

Chen Tao looked Gao Lin up and down and said, "Who told you to look like you were in a car accident in the womb? If you were as good-looking as him, you'd have just as many female fans!"

Gao Lin was not happy to hear this, and he was so angry that his local accent came out:
"I don't like hearing that. What's wrong with my looks?"

Look at my righteous face, don't I look handsome?
Chen Tao rolled his eyes at him, letting him figure it out himself!
……

After finally breaking through the encirclement at Hongqiao Airport, the group took a bus to the Huating Hotel opposite the Shanghai Stadium.

Since it was still early and everyone seemed to be in good spirits, Klaus Toppmöller decided to take the players to the field early to familiarize themselves with the pitch.

This stadium is familiar to everyone.

This is Shanghai Shenhua's home stadium, and also one of the Chinese national team's home stadiums in China.

Two years ago, Lin Feng led Inter Milan to a stunning comeback here, defeating Roma to lift the Serie A Super Cup.

However, the Shanghai Gymnasium underwent renovations in preparation for the Olympics.

The standards for lawn length, quality, and site size are different from before, and we need to readjust.

While the players were getting used to the field, Klaus Toppmöller and his coaching staff were also seriously considering what tactics to use in the next game.

Nigeria is stronger than Cameroon, especially in midfield. Nigeria's midfield is stronger, and their defense and interception efforts are more intense.

This poses a greater threat to the Chinese team because their attack is based on midfield dominance.

If the opponent limits the performance of your midfielders, it will be difficult for your forwards alone to threaten the opponent's goal.

Gao Lin and Dong Fangzhuo are both considered good forwards in Asia, but they are still quite far from being top-tier forwards.

Both players have only average individual skills and need the support of midfielders to bring out their strengths and pose a threat.

"It's almost certain that the opponent will send someone to limit Lin Feng. We need to find a way to reduce the effectiveness of this restriction so that Lin Feng can connect the team's offense and defense as usual!"

After so many matches, everyone has reached a consensus: only when Lin Feng plays comfortably can the Chinese team have a chance to win.

If he is restricted or uncomfortable on the field, the Chinese team will struggle.

"How about moving him back a bit, or even back to the defensive midfield position, and making him a deeper attacking midfielder?"

The main reason for the disappearance of the classic attacking midfielder is that modern football has been increasing its pressing and targeting of the midfield position. Attacking midfielders, who have lost their space to move and are under tremendous pressure, must have the ability to quickly pass the ball out.

Classical attacking midfielders are slow, slow to handle the ball, have poor physical strength, and contribute little to defense. In the increasingly fast-paced modern football system, their space for survival is shrinking, and their elimination is only natural.

Of course, the attacking midfielder is not entirely unusable. Like Ancelotti, it is also possible to play the attacking midfielder deep.

But this requires pairing him with a top-class defensive midfielder. AC Milan has Gattuso, but the Chinese team doesn't have such a player.

Fortunately, they don't need to, because Lin Feng is an all-around midfielder. He doesn't need a defensive midfielder to protect him; he can fulfill all the responsibilities of a defensive midfielder on his own.

"We can give it a try, let's see how it goes in an intra-team scrimmage first!"

Klaus Toppmöller did not directly adopt the plan discussed by the coaching staff, as moving Lin Feng to a deeper position would reduce his threat to the goal.

Lin Feng is currently China's top scorer and makes a significant contribution to the team's offense.

If we sacrifice his attacking prowess and other players can't fill the void he leaves behind, then this tactic will backfire.

Of course, if this can activate the entire team's attack power, then this adjustment is worth trying.

However, we need to communicate with Lin Feng first and calm him down.

"I'm fine with anything, as long as it helps the team better. I'd even be willing to play defense!"

Lin Feng had no reservations about the arrangement. He had played defensive midfield before; he had filled in for Real Madrid in several games when they were short of defensive midfielders.

The intensity of La Liga and the Champions League matches is definitely higher than that of the Olympics.

Having experienced matches of that caliber, playing for the national Olympic team will be even less of a problem.

But just as Klaus Toppmöller worried, Lin Feng's attacking teammates at the club are top strikers of the caliber of Raul and Van Nistelrooy.

His partners in the national Olympic team are Gao Lin and Dong Fangzhuo. The gap in strength between the two is too big, which means that tactics that work in the club may not work in the national Olympic team.

In the team's first training match, the problem that Klaus Toppmöller was most worried about came to the fore.

With Lin Feng no longer threatening the attack, the national Olympic team suddenly became ineffective in attacking.

The first team couldn't break through the defense of the reserve team.

"No, we either need to move Lin Feng back to his original position, or we need to re-select the forwards!"

"But we only have two strikers. We've tried Gao Lin and Dong Fangzhuo, but the results haven't been ideal!"

"Let Mao Jianqing or Yu Hai give it a try. Both of them are fast. We'll try to tighten our formation, draw the opponent forward, and use the gaps exposed in their backfield to launch counter-attacks!"

Given Lin Feng's significant threat, his shift to a deeper position would likely lead to the opponent pressing forward, giving the Chinese team an opportunity to counterattack.

Originally, the Chinese team's counterattacks were initiated by Lin Feng's speed advantage, but after he moved to a deeper position, other players had to take on this task.

Neither Gao Lin nor Dong Fangzhuo are suitable candidates.

"Let Yu Hai and Mao Jianqing give it a try!"

Klaus Toppmöller readily accepted the teaching assistants' suggestions.

……

Just as the national Olympic team was preparing intensively for the upcoming semi-finals, a highly anticipated track and field competition that had the entire nation's attention finally kicked off.

At 11:30 a.m. on August 18, amidst huge cheers and applause, Liu Xiang appeared on the track of the Bird's Nest.

He jumped a few times on the spot, a relaxed smile on his face, waving his right hand to greet the camera and the audience.

The applause and cheers in the Bird's Nest grew even louder, with shouts of "Liu Xiang" echoing throughout the stadium.

Liu Xiang was overwhelmed with emotion, feeling an indescribable excitement.

It definitely feels different to compete in your own country.

The thought of Lin Feng and Yao Ming, who had already achieved outstanding results in their respective competitions, filled Liu Xiang with fighting spirit. He didn't want to fall behind.

So even though it was just the preliminary round, he took it all with a serious attitude.

As soon as the starting gun fired, Liu Xiang strode forward with lightning speed, becoming the first to step onto the hurdle and the first to complete the hurdle jump.

This time, he didn't falter on the track, but maintained his lead throughout, ultimately securing first place in his group with an impressive time of 13.01 seconds. (End of Chapter)