Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

With only three days left until the closing ceremony of the Olympics, Liu Xiang's highly prestigious gold medal has once again pushed the Olympic fever to a climax.

With Liu Xiang and diving team member Chen Ruolin adding two more gold medals for the Chinese team, the Chinese delegation has won a total of 47 gold medals in various competitions as of August 21.

This achievement broke the highest record for the Chinese team since it resumed participation in the Olympics, far surpassing the second-ranked American team.

Although the US team won three gold medals today, they are now 18 gold medals behind the Chinese team on the medal table, far behind China.

However, China has fewer chances to win gold in the last three days, with only the women's and men's singles finals in table tennis being a sure thing. In contrast, the US team has nearly ten chances to win gold, so the gap between the two teams in gold medals may narrow.

Even if the Americans win all these gold medals, they will not be able to close the huge gap between them and the Chinese team. Therefore, the Chinese team has already secured the top spot on the gold medal table for the Beijing Olympics.

The only regret is that in today's women's volleyball semi-final, the Chinese women's volleyball team lost 0-3 to the Brazilian team, missing the opportunity to advance to the final and compete for the championship. This made the fans who had high hopes for the women's volleyball team very sad.

However, the women's volleyball team can still compete with Cuba for the bronze medal. Moreover, with the historic breakthroughs of Liu Xiang's record-breaking victory and the men's football team reaching the final, the impact of the women's volleyball team's defeat has been greatly mitigated.

Both table tennis finals were all-Chinese affairs. Although the competition hasn't started yet, these two gold medals are practically secured. The biggest question now is, who will win China's 50th gold medal?

I think it's Zou Shiming. He's very strong in the light flyweight division. As long as he doesn't underperform, his chances of winning are quite high!

Zhang Xiaoping has also made it to the boxing finals. I wonder if he has a chance to win the championship?

How are Meng Guanliang and Yang Wenjun's performances in the 500m double kayak? They won the gold medal at the last Olympics; do they have a chance to defend their title this time?

[It seems quite promising. If they can successfully defend their title, the Chinese team will have won 51 gold medals, and the Americans will be even further behind!]

Have you forgotten something?

What have you forgotten?

Everyone racked their brains, but they really couldn't find any overlooked opportunities for the Chinese delegation to win the championship.

[The men's soccer team has also made it to the final!]

With such strong opponents, it's going to be very difficult for the men's football team to win the championship, right?

Although the men's football team's entry into the final was a big surprise, it is difficult for the general public to change their impression of the team overnight, and very few people are optimistic that they will win the championship.

Although the chances are slim, what if something happens? After all, the ball is round!

Look at Argentina's lineup; even the most perfect football can't bridge this gap, right?

……

As the Olympics enter its final stage, all events are now in their final countdown.

Since arriving in Beijing, the national Olympic team has been intensifying its preparations for the finals.

The coaching staff, on the other hand, is making the most of the time to gather intelligence on the opponent and develop targeted tactics based on the opponent's characteristics.

Argentina is definitely the strongest opponent the Chinese Olympic team has ever faced. In the semi-final, the defending champion easily defeated Brazil, another strong South American team, 3-0, demonstrating their formidable strength.

Especially with the forward line led by Messi, Aguero, Higuain, Di Maria and others, their attacking firepower is so strong that it is terrifying.

This Argentine team has no obvious weaknesses; it is strong in the midfield and attack, and has a solid defense in the backfield.

In addition to attacking talents such as Messi, Higuain, Aguero, and Di Maria, the team also has midfield maestro Riquelme and top-class defensive midfielder Mascherano.

Even the defense boasts top-class defenders like Zabaleta and Demichelis.

Argentina's squad is good enough to play in the World Cup; on paper, the gap between the two teams is too big.

The Chinese team has virtually no chance of winning.

This is precisely why the outside world generally does not think the Chinese team can win. European betting companies even offered odds as high as 7 to 1 before the match!

"Our opponent is tough to deal with!"

After seeing the lineups of both sides, the members of the Chinese coaching staff were all at a loss.

With such a strong opponent, how are we supposed to play this match?
The final was held at the Bird's Nest. As the host country, they couldn't just park a bus and cower like turtles at the Bird's Nest, could they?
Playing a match that's too ugly will draw a lot of criticism from fans!

But if we don't play conservatively and are too aggressive, we might get thrashed by the opponent, which would be even more embarrassing.

"There is an old Chinese saying that goes, 'When soldiers come, generals will block them; when water comes, earth will dam it.' Argentina is strong, but it is not without its weaknesses."

Although Klaus Toppmöller also felt that the opponent was too strong, clearly exceeding the standards of the Olympics.

But he still did not lose faith in the game. Even if the Chinese team's chance of winning was only 1%, he would do his best to fight for that one percent possibility!
Moreover, the Chinese team's winning percentage is far from that low!

The strongest player in the opposing team's lineup is undoubtedly Messi, Barcelona's rising star, but the Chinese Olympic team also has Lin Feng, the best player in the world today, who can fully compete with him.

Although the Chinese national football team is inferior to its opponents in other positions, as long as it can bring out its strengths, it still has a chance to create a miracle.

But before that, the Chinese team must withstand the opponent's relentless attacks.

Once these young Argentinians get into a rhythm, no matter how ingenious his tactics are, it won't work.

What are Argentina's weaknesses?

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Klaus Toppmöller, their eyes filled with eager hope.

Since they couldn't find a way to deal with Argentina, they could only place all their hopes on this amazing old German man.

"Argentina's weakness is Riquelme!"

The old man succinctly pointed out Argentina's only weakness in a single sentence.

The classic attacking midfielder has increasingly lost its place in the modern football system. The slow pace, excessive reliance on possession, and low contribution in defense have made them out of touch with the increasingly fast-paced modern football.

Although Klaus Toppmöller has not coached a team in one of the top five European leagues for a long time, that does not mean he has not been paying attention to the development trends of football in those leagues.

In fact, he has been consistently following the development trends of today's football, especially European football.

After seeing Spain win the European Championship using possession-based football, he even added elements of possession-based football to the team's training.

Of course, with the current personnel reserves of the Chinese team, they are not yet capable of playing this kind of passing and control football that demands extremely high individual skills from the players on the field.

But the fact that he has this awareness is already quite telling.

In Klaus Toppmöller's view, Riquelme is indeed a top-class midfield commander, and watching his passes is like appreciating a work of art.

However, Riquelme's weaknesses are also obvious. First and foremost, he is too dependent on possession. Because of his exceptional passing ability, extremely wide vision, and boundless creativity, he often delivers some unbelievable passes.

This leads to his team developing a dependence on Riquelme without realizing it. When attacking, the players on the field will subconsciously pass the ball to him so that he can orchestrate the attack.

However, Riquelme shared the same flaws as other traditional attacking midfielders: he wasn't fast enough at handling the ball and tended to hold onto it for too long.

Furthermore, Krme is not a player who enjoys physical confrontations. If the opponent double-teams him when he has the ball, it is very likely to stop the attack initiated by Krme, slow down their attacking rhythm, and buy time for their own team to set up their defense.

If we're lucky enough to steal the ball from him, we might even be able to launch a counter-attack in the attacking third, which could bring unexpected rewards.

It is precisely because of these shortcomings that he was unable to establish himself in top clubs, and he and his playing style were abandoned by the times, becoming what people call the last classic attacking midfielder.

In that case, the Chinese team's tactics become clear.

Strengthen the defense in the midfield and backfield, compress the space, and increase the difficulty of the opponent's attack.

They adopted a double-teaming tactic against Riquelme and devised a strategy of quickly counter-attacking with two or three players in the attacking third after winning the ball.

This was the best solution he could think of in a short time. As for the other players in the Argentine team, it wasn't that he didn't want to take care of them, but he simply didn't have the manpower.

The opposing team's two wingers are all capable of dribbling, breaking through, and shooting; their individual skills are ridiculously strong. How can we counter them?

Even if Messi and Di Maria are successfully contained, can Higuain and Aguero in the middle be contained at the same time?

It's simply impossible, because there aren't enough people available!
Therefore, the only solution is to cut off the connection between the opponent's midfield and forward lines, and minimize the opponent's number of attacks.

……

Time flies, and before we knew it, it was the day of the finals.

On the morning of August 23, the bus carrying the national Olympic team left the Olympic Village and headed towards the National Stadium, which was not far away.

As everyone sat inside the bus, watching the scenery rushing past the window and the crowds of fans who had come from all over the country to cheer them on, they felt both nervous and excited.

The thought of playing a match in the Bird's Nest stadium, under the watchful eyes of over a billion compatriots across the country, inevitably makes everyone nervous.

Not to mention them, even Lin Feng's mentality was slightly affected.

Although they have participated in the World Youth Championship, the Asian Cup and two UEFA Champions League finals, this is the Olympics after all, and it is the first time that their country has hosted the Olympics. Its significance is completely different from any previous competition.

As a national celebration, the Olympics at this time had a far greater influence in China than the Asian Cup, the UEFA Champions League, and other events. Even if it were to be held up by the World Cup, it would probably still be superior.

For players of this age group on the national Olympic team, this is their World Cup!

It would be a lie to say I wasn't nervous on such an important stage and in such an important competition.

If even he was affected, his teammates were even more so.

The three-kilometer journey was quickly completed. After the bus came to a stop, Lin Feng was the first to stand up:
"Get out of the car, why think so much, just do it!"

"Yeah, let's just do it! I don't believe those Argentinians have three heads and six arms!"

Gao Lin, who had been included in the starting lineup by Klaus Toppmöller, immediately stood up and shouted, his neck stiff:
"Just you wait and see how I break through the Argentinians' defense!"

Normally, everyone would definitely tease him for bragging and talking big.

But now, hearing Gao Lin still bragging, everyone felt inexplicably more at ease.

"That's ambitious! I'll definitely pass the ball to you and give you a great assist!"

Zheng Zhi patted Gao Lin on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs up.

Regardless of whether Gao Lin scored or not, his courage to say such things before the final deserves recognition.

"Hehe, with Zheng-ge's pass, this game is in the bag. If I'm lucky, I might even get a hat trick today!"

"Do you think if I scored a hat-trick in the final of the Olympic Games on home soil in front of over a billion people across the country, would I become a national idol after the game, and would my influence in the domestic football scene surpass that of Brother Lin?"

You can't praise Gao Lin. If you praise him even slightly, he'll get carried away and forget who he is.

"Stop bragging! Can't you see you've blown the whole of Beijing's tallest tales out of proportion? A hat trick? If you can score even one goal, I'll call you 'Big Brother'!"

Cui Peng, who has a good relationship with Gao Lin, finally couldn't help but start complaining.

This guy's boasting got more and more outrageous, even he couldn't stand it anymore.

"You said it yourself, I'm determined to take you as my son!"

The atmosphere inside the bus was initially tense, but the two of them joked around and the tension and oppression vanished instantly. When they got off the bus, although they couldn't quite chat and laugh together, at least their facial expressions weren't so stiff anymore.

As soon as Lin Feng and the other members of the national Olympic team got off the bus, reporters who had been waiting nearby swarmed around them, pointing their cameras and microphones at them. Some reporters even crossed the cordon and reached out to hand them their microphones.

"Are you confident about this match?"

"Will Lin Feng still play as a defensive midfielder in this match?"

Who is China's starting striker?

"Can you reveal some tactical details about the Chinese team?"

"Argentina's head coach has stated that they are ready to defend their Olympic title. Mr. Klaus Toppmöller, what is your opinion on this?"

"Lin Feng, are you confident in leading your team to defeat Messi's Argentina?"

……

The reporters bombarded the reporters with a barrage of questions in a very short time.

Some of these questions were directed at the players, and some at the head coach.

Although Klaus Toppmöller taught in China for several years, his learning ability declined due to his advanced age, and his Chinese proficiency was only average; he could barely understand some words and sentences.

Just as he was calling the translator to introduce the reporters' questions, Lin Feng, who was walking on the front, stopped.

Lin Feng turned around and solemnly addressed the camera:

"We've come here for only one purpose: the championship!" (End of Chapter)