Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

As the Asian Cup final approaches, the football atmosphere in Jakarta is becoming increasingly vibrant.

Numerous posters about the finals were displayed in the most prominent locations in the city.

The number of foreign tourists wearing jerseys of the Chinese and Japanese national football teams has gradually increased on the streets.

The final of this Asian Cup will be held at the Grossela Pungcano Stadium, the largest stadium in Southeast Asia, which can accommodate more than 100,000 spectators.

Considering the large number of fans in both China and Japan, the organizers allocated 3 tickets to each country and reserved the remaining 4 tickets for neutral fans.

However, they underestimated the enthusiasm of Chinese fans; the 30,000 tickets that were made available were sold out in just one day.

In contrast, of the 30,000 tickets for the Japanese team, less than 12,000 have been sold in five days, and it remains to be seen whether they will all be sold.

This is mainly due to the different expectations of fans in the two countries.

The Japanese team has already won the Asian Cup, and has even won two consecutive Asian Cup titles.

Their fans have lost interest in the tournament, and even if they win again, it will only add another trophy to their tally, and the impact will be far less profound than the first victory.

The Chinese team has never won the Asian Cup before, and fans are extremely interested in this final, hoping to witness the moment when the national team wins the championship in person!
This expectation is both a driving force and a pressure for the Chinese national football team.

A few days before the match, a large number of reporters gathered outside the Chinese national football team's training ground.

Despite Zhu Guanghu's reason for prohibiting players from giving individual media interviews before the match, citing concerns about affecting preparations.

But the reporters didn't give up. They continued to wait outside every day, taking pictures of the national football team players on the training field with their cameras and video cameras.

Even if they can't get exclusive interviews with the players, just taking a few photos of the national football team players on the training field and adding a short text is enough to make the newspaper sell out, so they don't have to worry about sales at all.

In the past few days, the Chinese national football team has probably been the most talked-about topic in China.

This massive traffic and unprecedented wealth have captivated sports media professionals across China.

I wish these days could last forever!
"Who says Chinese people don't love football? It's just that the national team hasn't given us the chance!"

"If the Chinese national football team wins the Asian Cup this time, I believe the number of fans across the country will double again!"

"If the national Olympic team can achieve good results or even win the championship at the Olympics next year, then the spring of Chinese football may really have arrived!"

The young reporters gathered together, excitedly discussing the 'bright future' of Chinese football.

The older generation, however, were not so optimistic. After all, they had witnessed firsthand the glorious period when the Chinese Jia-A League was reformed and the national football team qualified for the World Cup.

But in the end, it still ended up as a complete mess.
The humiliating defeat in the World Cup, the loss in the Asian Cup final on home soil, and the rampant match-fixing and corruption in the league caused Chinese football to decline from its peak in a very short period of time, plunging it into an abyss of no return.

If it weren't for the emergence of the 85 Super Platinum Generation at the World Youth Championship, which slightly halted the decline of the Chinese national football team, Chinese football might have already fallen into the abyss, sliding to the level of second or even third tier in Asia.

Although Chinese football has shown some improvement compared to the slump of the previous few years.

But it's too early to talk about revival or a bright future.

If the Chinese national football team fails to qualify for the 2010 World Cup and cannot achieve a breakthrough on the World Cup stage, then they will ultimately be just like their predecessors, only a flash in the pan!
After all, the lack of development in China's youth football training system is no secret to those in the know.

If the national team's performance cannot be used to stimulate the market, expand the pie, and put youth training on the right track, then Chinese football has no future.

Therefore, time is running out for Chinese football.

……

July 29th, the day of the final.

At 5 p.m. sharp, the Chinese national football team players gathered at their hotel and boarded the bus to the stadium.

Traffic in Jakarta is quite congested. A journey of just a few kilometers took the bus almost an hour due to the constant stopping and starting.

As the massive stadium drew closer in the distance, the atmosphere inside the bus grew tense.

"Gulong!"

Gao Lin unscrewed the bottle cap again and took a sip of water.

Chen Tao, who was sitting next to him, had earphones in his ears, but the MP3 player was not playing, which he did not notice.

The others weren't in much better shape either, Dong Fangzhuo muttered to himself with his head down.

Zhou Haibin kept taking out his phone from his pocket, Feng Xiaoting's legs were shaking nervously, and Mao Jianqing opened the car window in frustration, wanting some fresh air, but a gust of hot air mixed with car exhaust fumes hit him, making him even more depressed.

Compared to the younger players, the older players have a much better mindset.

Li Weifeng, Zheng Zhi, and others all appeared calm and composed, while Sun Jihai was even more so, showing no sign of tension whatsoever.

Like the veteran team members, Lin Feng did not feel nervous at all.

After all, he had experienced similar competitions several times before.

In his first season at Inter Milan, Inter Milan trailed Juventus by 12 points at the halfway point of the season, but Inter Milan continued to fight for points until the last few rounds of the league.

Every match back then felt like a final, keeping the whole team on edge.

But by the second season, his mentality had matured considerably.

Throughout this season, he has maintained a stable mindset in the league, cup competitions, and the Champions League.

Even in the final Champions League match, when the mentality of other team members, even the veterans, was fluctuating, he remained calm and composed, like a ruthless goal-scoring machine, and completed an incredible four-goal haul in the final, shattering Kaká's Champions League dream with one kick.

At this moment, Lin Feng rediscovered the feeling he had when he was about to step onto the field for the Champions League final.

He had a feeling that he would score today, and more than one!
……

After a long and complicated process, the Chinese national football team's bus finally arrived at the stadium.

Reporters and fans waiting outside swarmed in, completely surrounding the Chinese team's red bus.

Security personnel at the scene quickly stepped forward to separate the reporters and fans who were crowding around, leaving a safe passage for the national team players.

There were so many fans at the scene that when you looked out from the bus, all you could see was a sea of ​​red, stretching as far as the eye could see.

The surging crowd outside made the Chinese national football team players on the bus hesitate, worried that something unexpected might happen if they got off the bus at this time.

However, at that moment, the crowd outside stopped, and the sounds of fans spontaneously maintaining order could be heard:
"Brothers, stop pushing forward, let them get in and warm up!"

"Yes, brothers, make way! The Japanese team's bus has arrived. We can't delay our team's time!"

Thanks to the spontaneous efforts of the fans, order was quickly restored in the vicinity.

Lin Feng led the way as they got off the bus.

When they saw that Lin Feng was the first to get off the bus, the surrounding fans got excited again, but they held back and did not go forward.

"Go Lin Feng!"

Go China!

"We absolutely have to win the championship!"

"Never let the Japanese get away with this!"

Hearing the heartfelt blessings from the fans, Lin Feng's calm demeanor was stirred.

He raised his right hand, clenched his fist, and shouted:
"Win the championship!" The fans shouted without hesitation.
"Win the championship!"

Lin Feng raised his arms and shouted again:

"revenge!"

Fans from all directions gave him an even more enthusiastic response:

"revenge!"

……

The players seemed to be infected by the atmosphere at the scene, feeling their blood rushing and their bodies full of inexhaustible energy, wishing they could rush onto the field right now and fight the Japanese to the death.

Zhu Guanghu had originally planned to give a passionate speech in the locker room to boost morale.

After all, even he himself felt a little nervous, let alone the players under his command.

But to everyone's surprise, Lin Feng used just four words to dispel the tension among the national team players.

This made Zhu Guanghu even more certain: this guy is definitely captain material!
If Lin Feng can lead the Chinese team to victory in this Asian Cup, there will be much less resistance to promoting him to the captaincy of the national team.

There are not many players who are born with leadership qualities. Even some of the most powerful top stars may not possess this quality.

Therefore, it is very rare to encounter a player who has both great strength and leadership qualities.

Having someone like that as the team captain would be a huge help to the team.

……

After getting used to the venue and warming up, the team members returned to the locker room to make their final preparations before the game.

Zhu Guanghu also used this last bit of time to give the players some advice, such as avoiding fouls, controlling the pace of the game, and not getting carried away.

In the entire locker room, only his voice could be heard.

"Coach, I need to go to the bathroom!"

At this moment, a sudden voice sounded.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Gao Lin with his legs tucked together, twisting his body, eagerly trying to squeeze into the toilet.

Old Zhu's face turned pale and then red. His emotions, which he had just managed to build up, were instantly ruined by this interruption, and he even forgot what he was going to say next.

Since he had forgotten, Lao Zhu simply stopped thinking about it and left the last bit of time for his team members, entering the field a step ahead of time.

As soon as Lao Zhu left, the locker room became lively.

When Gao Lin came out of the restroom, everyone looked at him and laughed.

Some people even crossed their legs and twisted their waists, mimicking Gao Lin's earlier movements in a very convincing way.

"I told you not to drink so much water beforehand, did you pee your pants?"

Gao Lin retorted, his neck stiff, "What do you mean by 'diarrhea'? I only went to the toilet once!"

Then came the incomprehensible language, such as drinking water to promote metabolism and accelerate blood circulation, and going to the toilet to release stress...

This caused everyone to burst into laughter, filling the locker room with a joyful atmosphere.

Lin Feng was also amused. Gao Lin and his gang were really a bunch of clowns!

Just as I finished packing my things and was about to put my phone away in the closet, I saw a text message from Liu Yifei encouraging me.

After quickly replying to a text message, he locked his phone in the closet, tidied his clothes, and left the locker room with his teammates.

With only 15 minutes left before the start of the match, players from both sides left the locker room and entered the player tunnel outside to wait for their turn.

The referee team then began to inspect the shin guards, shoes, and other equipment of both teams' starting players one by one.

After the inspection was completed, the players from both teams entered the field under the guidance of the referee team.

As soon as they stepped onto the field, a tremendous roar swept in from all directions, invigorating both teams.

Looking up, the huge stadium was packed to capacity, and the number of spectators for the game was displayed on the large screen hanging above the stadium—88000!
This was the first time many players on both sides had ever seen such a large-scale event.

This made them feel both nervous and excited.

However, judging from the color of the fans' jerseys in the stands, the Chinese team fans wearing red jerseys clearly made up the majority.

The east and north stands were almost entirely filled with Chinese fans, and the number was definitely more than 30,000.

On the opposite side, in the lower middle section of the west stand, there was only a group of blue-clad Japanese fans, numbering around ten thousand.

When the Chinese national football team players came onto the field, the Chinese fans who came to the scene shouted enthusiastically.

Not satisfied with just calling out the names, they went through all the names of the players who had come on stage again.

When it was Lin Feng's turn, the fans shouted his name with all their might, making it deafening.

Although this wasn't her first time watching a game live, Liu Yifei had watched every single match the Chinese team, or rather, Lin Feng, had played since the start of the Asian Cup.

Even so, she was still deeply shocked at that moment.

Especially when tens of thousands of people, including many neutral fans, chanted Lin Feng's name together, she felt as if an electric current had surged through her body, raising goosebumps.

At that moment, she truly understood what the influence of a world-class star meant.

However, after the initial shock, she felt a sense of pride and self-satisfaction, and her chest unconsciously puffed out.
My boyfriend is amazing!
……

The fans' "calling out" of players had an unexpectedly good effect. The national team players whose names were called seemed to be injected with some kind of power, their blood boiling and their bodies filled with energy.

Lin Feng, whose name was called several times, attracted the attention of the Japanese team members.

Japanese midfield maestro Shunsuke Nakamura looked at Lin Feng with a deep sense of skepticism in his eyes:
At such a young age, he has such a huge reputation. Is this guy just all talk or does he really have the skills?

Once the match begins, we'll be able to test our opponents' mettle on the field.

The powerful impact of the Chinese football fans reached its climax during the performance of both national anthems.

The scene of more than 40,000 Chinese fans singing the national anthem in unison not only shocked the neutral fans at the scene, but also made the Japanese players on the field turn pale.

What a terrifying display!

Due to their overwhelming numerical disadvantage, the cheers of the Japanese fans were completely drowned out by the Chinese fans.

During the national anthem, everyone from ordinary fans to every player on the field looked at the Japanese players with eyes that seemed ready to kill.

They might go easy on anyone, but the Japanese team is an exception!
If we face the Japanese team, we can score ten goals, definitely not just eight!

As long as the game isn't over, they won't stop their offensive.

At 20:35, after completing a series of pre-match procedures, the match began with the referee's whistle.

This highly anticipated battle has finally begun. (End of Chapter)