Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

To be honest, many people were surprised that the game ended in a draw.

Not to mention a draw, before the game many people thought that as long as the Chinese national team did not lose by more than two points, it would be considered a victory.

However, no one expected that the Chinese national football team would give everyone such a big surprise.

After the game, a large group of reporters ran to the mixed interview area to interview the players and coaching staff of the Chinese national team.

A focal figure like Lin Feng was naturally surrounded by heavy attacks from reporters.

The CCTV reporter took a good position and was the first to pass the microphone to him:
"Lin Feng, the Chinese national football team tied with the powerful Bayern Munich. How do you feel now?"

Lin Feng smiled and said:
"I'm quite happy! The opponent in this game was very strong and the game was very difficult, but we seized the opportunity and scored two goals. This result is the result of the joint efforts of the whole team and the coach!"

Lin Feng's answer made the CCTV reporter nod slightly. They had heard that Lin Feng was a very low-key and humble player. Now seeing him, he was indeed as the rumors said.

Even when he was interviewed himself, he would always bring his entire team along.

Others are eager to take all the flowers and applause, but he is pushing them away.

"You were named MVP in this game. How do you evaluate your performance?"

Lin Feng thought for a moment and answered seriously:
"I don't rate myself that high, probably around 7.0. If the last goal had gone in, maybe I could have rated it higher!"

The reporter showed an exaggerated expression at the right time:

"I didn't expect you, Lin Feng, to be so strict with yourself. We all think you are at least 8.5 or even 9!"

Lin Feng smiled and said nothing. The reporters' scores were not necessarily objective.

For example, they gave Gao Lin, who scored the goal, 7.8 points, but only gave Dong Fangzhuo 6.3 points, which is obviously a bit unfair.

Although Dong Fangzhuo did not score a goal, he made great contributions on the defensive end.

Without him and Gao Lin acting as troublemakers, the Chinese national football team's goal would face more tests.

If Lin Fen were to rate the two, Gao Lin would get 7.5, and Dong Fangzhuo would get at least 7.0.
The reporter continued to ask questions:
"The Asian Cup is about to begin. What are your goals for the Asian Cup?"

Lin Feng nodded heavily: "Of course we have to. Our goal in this Asian Cup is to win the championship!"

After hearing Lin Feng's public declaration, there was a burst of whispers around.

Although the head coach of the Chinese national football team, Zhu Guanghu, had already expressed his opinion before, hearing these words from Lin Feng still came as a big shock to everyone.

"What do you think of the Japanese and South Korean teams saying they will teach the Chinese team a lesson in the Asian Cup?"

Lin Feng said seriously: "I am also looking forward to playing against them on the field. By the way, they will not field the second-tier team again this time, right?"

Hearing Lin Feng's words, the reporters around him all laughed.

Lin Feng was talking about the 2005 East Asian Four Nations Tournament, in which the Chinese national football team defeated the Japanese and Korean teams consecutively and won the East Asian Cup championship.

But after the game, the media from both Japan and South Korea refused to admit defeat.

The excuse they made was that it was not the main teams of Japan and South Korea that participated in the East Asian Cup, but the second-tier teams.

If they had sent out the main team, they would have definitely won in the end.

So Lin Feng's question was obviously directed at Yin Yang and the others.

It can be said that the East Asian Cup match between Japan and South Korea is not important, as they sent out their second-tier teams.

Then is the Asian Cup not important, and only the second-tier team will be sent to train?
The Japanese and South Korean teams are the favorites to win this Asian Cup, which is different from the Chinese national team during Gao Hongbo's era.

The Chinese national football team has no hope of winning the championship, so Gao Hongbo's suggestion to use the Asian Cup to train the players, although a bit forced, is not completely unreasonable.

But if the Japanese and South Korean teams did this, it would be totally unreasonable.

The reporters present couldn't help but want to interview their Japanese and Korean counterparts about this question.

I'm sure the expressions on their faces must be very exciting!
Domestic reporters had few contacts with Lin Feng and were a little reserved at first.

But after Lin Feng answered a few questions and everyone became familiar with him, the reporters gradually became bolder and asked more and more tricky questions.

Soon someone asked about Lin Feng's personal privacy:

"Lin Feng, do you have a girlfriend now?"

As soon as this question was asked, there was a burst of booing from the surroundings.

The reporters who were interested in watching the fun gave thumbs up to the brave man who asked the question.

How brave!
They had wanted to ask this question for a long time, but they did not dare to ask it for fear of offending Lin Feng.

Just looking at Lin Feng's reaction, he didn't seem to be that angry, which made others regret it. They should have asked this question earlier!

When they asked this question, it was as if they had tacitly acknowledged that Lin Feng already had a girlfriend.

After all, a sports star like Lin Feng, who is handsome, young and rich, has no shortage of suitors.

In addition, he has lived abroad for many years and the atmosphere there is more open, so it is very normal for him to have a girlfriend.

On the contrary, it would be abnormal for him not to have a girlfriend.

Lin Feng thought for a moment, were he and Liu Yifei considered to be dating?
It doesn’t seem like it. The other party doesn’t even let me hold your hand. We can be considered just ordinary friends at best!

……

Lin Feng didn't expect that the "ordinary friend" in his eyes would actually send him a congratulatory text message immediately after the game.

Lin Feng picked up his phone and edited for a long time, and finally replied with only two words:
"Thank you!"

Meanwhile, on the other side.

After sending the text message, Liu Yifei sat restlessly in front of her phone, expecting a reply from the other party but also worried that she would not get a response from the other party.

It was only five minutes of waiting, but it made her feel like a year had passed.

Jingle Bell!
The text message alert ringtone only lasted less than half a second before the message was opened.

But when she saw the content of the text message, the expression on her face was full of disappointment.

She also picked up her phone and edited it for a long time, and finally deleted it all and replied to Lin Feng, "You're welcome."

The conversation was so intense that Lin Feng did not reply to the message.

With the Asian Cup approaching, he decided to focus more on the game.

Although it was just a friendly match, the impact of the Chinese national team's draw with Bayern was still beyond imagination.

After the game, all major media reported the match on their front pages, and the Bayern coach's public praise of the Chinese national team in the post-match press conference made the fans feel very happy.

Hitzfeld is an internationally renowned coach. It is a very proud thing for Chinese football to be recognized by such a big name.

However, while we are happy, we have to face the current situation. Compared with European football, Asian football is still at a relatively low level.

The fact that the Chinese national football team was able to tie with Bayern does not mean that their strength has reached the level of Bayern.

On the contrary, the gap between the Chinese national team and Bayern is all-round!

In fact, it is not just the national football team that is lagging behind. Chinese football is currently lagging behind in all aspects.

In addition to the lack of player ability, the level of coaches is also quite worrying.

In this game, Zhu Guanghu could only park the bus and defend tightly against Bayern's attack, while Hitzfeld on the opposite side was able to make targeted adjustments in the frontcourt according to the formation and playing style of the Chinese national team, and the adjustments achieved immediate results.

This shows that in terms of on-the-spot command, there is a huge gap between Zhu Guanghu and his opponents.

Zhu Guanghu is already the strongest among the local coaches. If even he is not good enough, others will be even worse.

But players and coaches are not the link that lags behind the most!
The more serious problem is in the area of ​​youth training. There are currently no professional youth training coaches and a complete youth training system in the country.

Many coaches in charge of youth training do not have the ability to meet the requirements, and their judgment of people is poor. They only train according to a fixed pattern and do not know how to teach according to the individual's individual characteristics.

With such a huge population base, China should have produced many football talents.

However, the backward youth training system and the inherent concepts of the people have caused these talents to be buried for a long time and they have never been able to make a breakthrough.

If we want Chinese football to get on the right track and achieve long-term development, we must lay a solid foundation.

This requires keeping pace with the international community and learning from and drawing on each other's successful experiences.

In addition to sending young players to study abroad in Europe and receive training in high-level leagues, a group of young coaches will also be sent abroad to study and further their studies.

As for youth training, we can completely cooperate long-term with the football associations of countries with strong youth training such as the Netherlands and Spain.

Systematically introduce the other party’s youth training system and outstanding talents to help lay a solid foundation for the domestic youth training system and cultivate youth training talents in the country.

However, to achieve this, the Football Association needs to carry out a top-down reform, which requires a lot of financial and policy support.

At present, there is still great resistance to reform, and the Chinese national football team needs to overcome these obstacles with good results.

Therefore, the Chinese national football team cannot afford to lose in this Asian Cup!

They are not only fighting for themselves, but also for the future of Chinese football!

……

Lao Zhu felt deeply his own shortcomings, so after the game with Bayern, he arranged for the national football team to undergo closed training.

He then found the head coach of the National Olympic Team, Krauchen, and wanted to ask for advice.

"I'm not a famous coach. We are just communicating and learning from each other, and making progress together!"

Krauchen is only 8 years older than Zhu Guanghu, and he is really embarrassed to accept a disciple who is so old.

Zhu Guanghu did not expect the German old man to be so humble. He originally came here to ask for advice and learn, but he did not expect the other party to solve his embarrassment under the guise of mutual communication and discussion and learning.

This German old guy is quite something. I don’t know how good his coaching skills are, but he has learned Chinese culture very well!
"The National Olympic Team has no matches at the moment, why don't you just join our coaching staff as a special consultant? I can apply to the Football Association to give you double salary!"

Seeing that the other party was so easy to talk to, Zhu Guanghu took advantage of the opportunity to put forward his own purpose.

Asking for advice was just a cover. His real purpose was to invite Krauchen to help the national football team find its shortcomings and improve its techniques and tactics.

By the way, see if the other party has any way to allow him and the Chinese coaching team to go abroad for further studies.

Under normal circumstances, Krauchen would most likely reject such an obviously unreasonable request.

The head coach of the Chinese national football team asked the head coach of the national Olympic team to be his advisor, so why not just let the head coach of the national Olympic team coach the Chinese national football team?

Krauchen is old, already 66 years old, and he will retire after leading the national Olympic team to next year's Olympics.

Now Zhu Guanghu actually wants him to take on multiple roles. Isn't this going to tire him to death?
But faced with Zhu Guanghu's invitation, Krauchen hesitated.

Because there are too many players from the National Olympic Team in this Chinese team.

In addition, there are three unrestricted places for the Olympics, and the candidates for these three places will naturally have to be selected from the national team.

So Krauchen really wants to go to the Chinese national football team and decide which three players to take to the Olympics based on the performance of the Chinese players in daily training and games.

So after some hesitation, he finally agreed to go and take a look at the national football team, but did not accept the invitation of Zhu Guanghu, the national football team consultant.

The arrival of Krauchen made Lin Feng and other young national youth players very happy.

Although two years have passed, when I think back to the moment they won the World Youth Championship, it seems like it happened just yesterday.

The old man was also very emotional:

"You guys have all done really well, it's far exceeded my expectations!"

The success rate of young players is not high. Not many can eventually gain a foothold in the professional arena, and even fewer can join the national team.

For example, the German team that was defeated by the Chinese national team in the World Youth Championship, none of that group of players has been called up to the German national team so far.

Compared with them, the situation on the Chinese team's side is simply outlier.

A group of young players who are no older than 23 years old, so many of them have been successfully promoted to the national team, and many of them have secured their positions as the main players of the national team. The success rate is too high.

Hearing Krauchen's praise, the national youth team couldn't help but straighten their chests. During the team training, each of them put in their best effort, wanting to show off their skills in front of the old coach.

But they didn't expect that the result would be counterproductive. The other national team players were very curious when they saw how hard they were trying.

After asking around, I found out that this old man actually had three direct tickets to the Olympics!
That’s the local Olympics!
Not to mention the young players, even the old players like them can't help but be tempted.

So, they also started to show themselves hard, and did not show any mercy just because their opponents were a group of young people.

"Is the intensity of your team's training matches usually this high?"

This was the first time for Krauchen to come to the Chinese national football team's training camp. He was shocked to see the main players and substitutes fighting so hard and the players' impeccable attitude.

Is this a training match?
Why does it feel like playing in an official game?
Although he had doubts about Zhu Guanghu's coaching ability before, he couldn't help but overturn his previous judgment when he saw how seriously the national football players took training under his management.

Zhu Guanghu is capable!

Zhu Guanghu blushed a little and swore that the team members were not like this on weekdays.

After all, in which team's training match would players make brutal tackles on each other?

"Stop, stop, stop, what are you doing? What if you injure your teammates? Are you still going to play in the Asian Cup?"

Old Zhu was so angry that he called everyone over and criticized them harshly.

There are only a few days left until the Asian Cup. If you get injured now, you will miss the game.

But he seemed to be able to guess what the players were thinking. It was the local Olympics, and he wanted to participate too! (End of this chapter)