Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Confidence, though invisible and intangible, can truly transform a team.

A few years ago, the Chinese team suffered more losses than wins in international competitions and was heavily criticized by fans.

This leads to a general lack of confidence among players in international competitions. Specifically, the football on the field is like a hot potato; no one dares to touch it, and even if they do, they dare not make any moves. They always pass the ball sideways or back on the field, rarely passing it forward.

This is because people aren't thinking about how to make a beautiful, good pass, but rather how to quickly get the ball out of play and avoid having it intercepted and becoming the scapegoat.

The Chinese national football team is only of average strength to begin with, and they play timidly and hesitantly, so their performance in international competitions is naturally even worse.

This led to a vicious cycle where the national football team performed poorly, lost games, and was criticized. The more they were criticized, the more afraid the players became of taking the blame, and they played even more timidly on the field, resulting in a further decline in performance.

The turning point came with the 2005 East Asian Cup, in which the Chinese national team called up many young players, especially Lin Feng and others who had just participated in and won the World Youth Championship.

They were young and fearless, and had not yet been corrupted by the national team's bad influence. In addition, strong teams such as Japan and South Korea did not take the East Asian Cup seriously enough, and sent their second-string teams, which lacked overseas players, instead of their main lineups.

This enabled the Chinese national football team to defeat strong opponents and win the East Asian Cup.

This victory has given the national team players and fans a boost of confidence, and improved the public opinion environment surrounding the team. In light of the East Asian Cup title and the outstanding performances of these young players, who showed great fighting spirit, fans did not hurl insults, but instead expressed their high expectations for the future of the national team.

The changing public opinion environment and the morale boost from winning the championship have significantly altered the national football team's spirit.

Through repeated victories, the players gradually regained the confidence they had lost.

Although it's the same group of people, and their overall age has even increased by a few years, their competitive form is incomparable to that of a few years ago.

The current national football team players are full of confidence on the field, not only daring to take the ball, but also daring to make moves.

The various breakthroughs, dribbling skills, and team passes and coordination were dazzling, making viewers wonder if this was still the Chinese team.
Many people suspect that if this national football team were to return to the level of three years ago, they could utterly defeat the Chinese team from three years ago.

In previous years, Bahrain, or rather West Asian teams, had a psychological advantage when facing China.

Because the Chinese team has the characteristic of being weak against strong opponents and not strong against weak opponents.

Many weaker teams have managed to pull off upsets and score points against the Chinese team.

At that time, they were really looking forward to meeting the Chinese team because the Chinese team was easier to deal with than other teams of the same level.

But the situation is completely different now. With China winning back the Asian championship title from Japan through sheer strength, its confidence has been greatly boosted.

This makes it difficult for other Asian teams, even top Asian powerhouses like Japan, South Korea, Iran, and Australia, to gain an advantage when facing the Chinese team.

Not to mention second- or third-rate teams like Bahrain!
Therefore, before the match even started, the Bahrain team was already at a psychological disadvantage. They completely saw themselves as the underdogs and didn't believe they had the strength to directly confront the Chinese team.

The only way they could think of to win was to steal a point at the start of the game, then retreat and win through tight defense and opportunistic counterattacks.

But after the Chinese team figured out and thwarted their plan, they ran out of ideas.

At the end of the first half, the Bahrain players were all dejected.

They had considered the possibility of falling behind in the score, after all, their opponents were the current Asian champions, whose strength far surpassed theirs.

But they never expected to lose so badly, conceding four goals in just one half. If things continue like this, they could very well suffer a humiliating defeat.

In order to avoid a crushing defeat, the Bahrain team played even more desperately in the second half.

Not only are they more aggressive on defense, but they are also more aggressive in their movements.

The Japanese team's head coach, who was watching the match, had a sudden inspiration upon seeing this:
"It seems that the Bahrain team is going to step up their game. We have experienced their resilience in the last match. If the Chinese team is careless, they may suffer a big loss against them!"

However, to the disappointment of the Japanese coach, the Bahrain team that showed great resilience when facing Japan disappeared when facing China.

It's not that they disappeared, but rather that they used all their resilience for defense instead of launching counterattacks.

This is not surprising, considering that they were only down by two goals in the first half against Japan, but against China, they were down by four goals in just the first half.

The gap has doubled, what's the point of trying to catch up?

Who can come back from a four-goal deficit at halftime?

That being said, the Bahrain team would not mind giving it a try if the opportunity really came.

However, the Chinese team learned from the lesson of the previous match against Japan. Despite having a large lead, they did not let their guard down, which made it difficult for the Bahrain team to find an opportunity.

In the 65th minute of the second half, China scored again from a corner kick, with captain Li Weifeng heading in the ball to extend their lead to 5-0.
After that, the Chinese team began making substitutions, with key players such as Lin Feng being replaced one after another.

Bahrain capitalized on China's substitutions and formation adjustments to score a consolation goal.

Ultimately, the score was 5-1. Following their previous 3-0 victory over Uzbekistan, the Chinese team once again secured a resounding home win.

As a result, after two rounds of matches, the Chinese team sits atop Group A with a 6-point, 7-goal advantage.

Based on past experience, if you can win four games in the final round of qualifying, you will have a chance to advance. If you can win five games, you will basically be guaranteed to qualify for the World Cup.

In the 2001 World Cup qualifiers, the Chinese team secured their ticket to the World Cup two rounds early after winning their fifth match.

So after the match, both online and offline, fans were discussing nothing but advancing from the group stage and qualifying for the World Cup.

[I remember last time in the final round of qualifying, we also got off to a two-game winning streak and advanced smoothly. The results of the first two rounds of this national team are almost identical to those of that national team. Does this mean that our World Cup qualification is secure?]

We cannot let our guard down. Our opponents in the first two rounds were relatively weak, and beating them doesn't mean anything. To advance, we still need to see the results of our matches against Japan and Australia. Therefore, the next two rounds are crucial for the Chinese team, because each of these two matches is worth not just three points, but six!

Yes, that's right. Japan and Australia are our direct competitors for advancing from the group stage. If we can beat them, it will greatly increase our chances of advancing; otherwise, it will cast a shadow over our chances!

Group A truly lives up to its name as the "Group of Death," having drawn three top Asian teams with only two qualifying spots. Every team must fight tooth and nail to advance!

[I think Group A has many strong teams, but also many weak ones. Group B is the real group of death. It's bad enough that they were drawn with South Korea, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, but then North Korea came along and stirred things up. Who would have thought that the team ranked first in Group B now is neither South Korea nor Iran, but North Korea?]

[You know what, this North Korean team, although not highly ranked internationally, is actually quite strong. I think they really have a chance to make it to the World Cup!]

...Compared to the top 20 stage, the top 10 stage has significantly more strong teams, and the matches have become more intense and exciting.

Fans are enthusiastically discussing the final round of qualifiers, and in the past week, almost all the hot topics online have been about the final round of qualifiers.

Of course, discussing other teams is secondary; everyone's main focus is still on the Chinese national team's matches.

This month is just an appetizer for the Chinese national football team. The two tough matches against Australia and Japan next month will be the key battles to determine the qualification situation in Group A!

……

After playing two World Cup qualifiers, Lin Feng did not stay in China and took a plane back to Madrid overnight.

Compared to the relaxed and cheerful atmosphere at the national team, the atmosphere at the club was noticeably more somber.

FIFA international break is always the most nerve-wracking time for clubs, as players often get injured during national team matches.

This year is no exception; Real Madrid has suffered significant losses.

Arjen Robben suffered an injury during the Netherlands' match against North Macedonia and will be sidelined for at least a month.

Veteran Fabio Cannavaro suffered a hamstring injury during the match against Georgia and will be sidelined for six to seven weeks.

Both players are key players for the team, and their absence is a significant disadvantage for Real Madrid, who are eager to catch up in the league.

If we also consider the previously injured Casillas and the season-ending Van Nistelrooy, Real Madrid is now plagued by injuries.

The impact of numerous injuries on the team was quickly reflected in the team's performance.

In the seventh round of the league, the Madrid derby kicked off, with Real Madrid heading to the Calderon Stadium to regroup their city rivals, Atletico Madrid.

Real Madrid struggled to play against Atletico Madrid, who had just been thrashed by Barcelona away from home.

Although Real Madrid took the lead in the first half thanks to Higuain's goal.

However, Sneijder's rash retaliatory tackle in midfield resulted in Real Madrid being reduced to ten men early on, forcing them to play with a numerical disadvantage.

This decision enraged Mourinho on the sidelines, who cursed Sneijder as an idiot and lashed out at the referee for double standards.

When Atletico Madrid's number four elbowed Raul, why didn't he show a red card?

With a numerical advantage, Atletico Madrid launched a fierce attack on Real Madrid, and in the second half, their star striker Forlán equalized the score.

In the second half, Lin Feng delivered a brilliant pass, assisting Raul to break through the opponent's goal.

However, the assistant referee mistakenly ruled the goal as offside, causing Raul's goal to be disallowed.

Slow-motion replays show that Raul was not offside at all the moment Lin Feng passed the ball.

Despite protests and appeals from Real Madrid players, the referee stuck to his decision and refused to change it.

"That was a brilliant ruling! Your eyes are as sharp as Collina's!"

Mourinho clapped loudly on the sidelines, while making sarcastic remarks about the referee's decisions.

The referee didn't tolerate him either. After the fourth official reported his outrageous behavior, he decisively went to the sidelines and showed Mourinho a red card, sending him off the field.

Mourinho smiled and applauded the referee, giving him a thumbs-up, but still didn't give up on mocking and ridiculing him.

He received two red cards in a row and had a good goal disallowed by the referee.

Real Madrid's morale and mentality were inevitably affected, while Atletico Madrid seized the opportunity to launch their fiercest counterattack.

At this point, even the most optimistic Real Madrid fans could sense that the situation was not good.

Let alone taking three points away from home, it's questionable whether the team can even take one point.

However, Real Madrid's resilience on the field exceeded their opponents' expectations. Despite Atletico Madrid's relentless attack for thirty minutes, Real Madrid managed to hold off the opponent's offensive with tenacious defense and did not concede a goal.

Substitute goalkeeper Dudek seemed to have rediscovered his stellar form from the Champions League final against AC Milan, making one brilliant save after another to deny Atletico Madrid's shots.

When the game reached the 90th minute, the score was still 1-1.

Real Madrid fans finally breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this.

Although they failed to secure three points, they were already quite satisfied to have escaped unscathed under these circumstances.

But not everyone is satisfied with this result!

In the fifth minute of stoppage time, just as the referee was checking his watch and preparing to stop the game, Lin Feng suddenly launched an attack, making an unexpected tackle and stealing the ball from the Atletico Madrid player's feet.

He then charged forward alone, carrying the ball all the way into the opponent's penalty area.

This unexpected turn of events stunned everyone on the field, as well as the tens of thousands of Atlético Madrid fans at the Calderón Stadium.

How could anyone have such stamina and explosive power when the game is more than ninety minutes in?
Watching Lin Feng surge ahead, leaving everyone from Atletico Madrid behind, Atletico Madrid fans closed their eyes in despair, while Real Madrid fans widened their eyes, clenched their fists, and were ready to celebrate the goal.

Lin Feng did not disappoint them. After dodging a foul from Atletico Madrid's last defender, Heitinga, just outside the penalty area, he dribbled into the box.

Facing the onrushing goalkeeper, Lin Feng did not choose to shoot immediately. Instead, he used his speed advantage to get past the goalkeeper before pushing the ball into the empty net.

Without any suspense, the ball once again pierced Atletico Madrid's goal, making the score 2-1!

Real Madrid snatched a last-minute victory against Atletico Madrid away from home!
The moment the goal was scored, bars all over Madrid erupted in celebration.

Countless Real Madrid fans sang and danced, chanting hymns of praise to celebrate their victory.
So what if the camp is full of injuries and illnesses?
So what if we're playing away from home?
What about the referee's actions?

As long as we have Lin, we are invincible! (End of Chapter)