Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Winning the first match boosted the morale of the national Olympic team players significantly.

The next match is scheduled for four days from now, at Yuexiushan Stadium in Guangzhou.

Klaus Toppmöller plans to make adjustments to the starting lineup during the match, giving several other over-age players who haven't played before a chance to experience their chemistry with the current Olympic team players.

In the previous match, the national Olympic team mainly attacked down the left flank. In this match, after Sun Jihai replaced Tan Wangsong, Lin Feng consciously passed the ball more to the right flank, focusing the attack on the right side.

Sun Jihai's ability to cross from the byline isn't top-tier, but it's slightly better than Sun Xiang's.

After Lin Feng deliberately shifted the attacking direction, he had many opportunities to perform on the right wing, completing multiple crosses throughout the match and contributing one assist.

Sun Jihai is very capable, a fact that Klaus Toppmöller knew long ago.

But now that he's over thirty, he's past the peak of his career.

Therefore, Klaus Toppmöller initially did not plan to take him to the Olympics, because at his age, it was questionable whether he could even be selected for the starting lineup of the Chinese national team for the 2010 South Africa World Cup.

Such valuable training opportunities should obviously be left to young people.

However, through this match, Klaus Toppmöller astutely observed Lin Feng's different attitudes towards the two players.

In the last match, when the national Olympic team's right-back Tan Wangsong came on, Lin Feng didn't pass the ball to him even once.

He was a little surprised when he heard the statistics after the game, even though the two players were far apart on the field.

But the two didn't pass the ball to each other even once during the entire match, which is really abnormal.

Klaus Toppmöller knew that Lin Feng was equally skilled with both feet and had no weak foot, so there was no question of which side he was better at attacking.

Therefore, he guessed that Lin Feng thought the left flank, where Sun Xiang and Mao Jianqing were located, was stronger, so he shifted the focus of the attack significantly to the left flank.

But now it seems that is not the case.

Klaus Toppmöller guessed that Lin Feng didn't seem to like the young right-back named Tan Wangsong, otherwise there wouldn't have been zero interaction between them.

However, this is just Klaus Toppmöller's personal conjecture and has not yet been verified.

He planned to talk to Lin Feng privately after the match and ask for his opinion.

The final score of the match was 2-0, with the Chinese Olympic team scoring one goal in each half, defeating the US Olympic team once again.

The US team didn't hold back in these two games; they really couldn't beat the Chinese team.

Especially in the second match, although the Chinese team scored fewer goals, they had a stronger grasp of the game.

The Americans played a very frustrating game, with only 30% possession and a paltry five shots on goal.

The American team couldn't find any offensive opportunities and was on the defensive almost the entire time.

If the national Olympic team players hadn't had such abstract shooting skills, wasting so many opportunities, their goal tally could have doubled.

After the match, even head coach Klaus Toppmöller, in an interview with reporters, seriously criticized the team's shooting skills:
"Our players still lack the ability to seize opportunities. They create opportunities but fail to capitalize on them, which is a major problem."

This is indeed a big problem. The US Olympic team is not strong. When playing against them, the Chinese Olympic team can waste opportunities, but if they continue to squander opportunities when facing stronger opponents, they will be burying themselves.

However, the German coach did not attribute all the reasons to the players' poor shooting skills, as he was afraid that too harsh criticism would damage the players' confidence.

Having been in China for several years, he has found that the biggest psychological problem for Chinese players is a lack of self-confidence. Despite having the ability, they cannot perform well when they get nervous on the field.

"The cold weather may have made the team members' muscles a bit tense. They were afraid of getting injured, so they were hesitant to play freely. Fortunately, we are participating in the Summer Olympics, not the Winter Olympics!"

The old man's humorous answer amused the reporters present. He had a good track record as a coach, and the national Olympic team had indeed played well in these two matches.

Therefore, the reporters did not intend to criticize him or the national Olympic team; on the contrary, they all wanted to build good relationships with him and the players of the national Olympic team.

If nothing unexpected happens, the national football team will have to rely on this group of players to uphold its reputation for the next decade!
If the Chinese national football team is in decline, they will most likely rush to criticize it and gain traffic by attacking the team.

However, the rise of the Chinese national football team is now very obvious. At this time, criticizing the national football team is unlikely to gain any support and may even attract attacks from all sides, which would be counterproductive.

……

Lin Feng had just returned to Madrid when the 18th round of La Liga kicked off.

In this round of league matches, Real Madrid will host Zaragoza.

Lin Feng did not play in this match.

Mourinho was worried that his body might not be able to handle the long flight of more than ten hours after he had just played for the national team.

Therefore, in order to protect him, he was placed on the bench.

Athletes are most vulnerable to injury when they are physically fatigued, and Mourinho dares not take that risk.

Lin Feng didn't care about it; he just considered it a rest day.

Since their opponents weren't very strong, Real Madrid easily defeated them 2-0 thanks to goals from Van Nistelrooy and Raul.

Since Barcelona also won another match, the point difference between the two teams remains at 10 points.

However, after the match, the focus of Real Madrid's attention was not on the result of Barcelona's game, but on the Champions League knockout stage draw ceremony held at UEFA headquarters that evening.

Compared to previous years, the distribution of the top 16 teams this year is slightly more balanced.

Each of La Liga, the Premier League, and Serie A has three teams that have advanced to the round of 16.

Lyon remains the only representative in Ligue 1, while in the Bundesliga, due to the Bavarian giants' poor performance last season, they failed to even qualify for the Champions League and could only play in the Europa League.

Without their leader this season, the Bundesliga's overall performance has been very poor.

Apart from Schalke 04, who narrowly qualified from Group B as the second-placed team, Werder Bremen and Stuttgart were both eliminated as bottom-placed teams in their respective groups.

Werder Bremen is in a slightly better position; they only finished third in the Bundesliga last season.

Stuttgart, as the newly crowned Bundesliga champions, have delivered a dismal record of 1 win and 5 losses in the Champions League, scoring 7 goals and conceding 15, which is simply unacceptable.

The Bundesliga teams' crushing defeats in the Champions League have sparked heated debate among Bundesliga fans about whether to reform the existing shareholding system in the Bundesliga.

Some argue that restrictions should be lifted to allow foreign investment in the Bundesliga, which would allow it to quickly catch up with La Liga, the Premier League, and Serie A, and stop being at the bottom of the top five leagues like Ligue 1.

However, many people oppose the reforms because businessmen are profit-driven, and their involvement will only make football less pure; at the very least, it will be impossible to buy cheap tickets that cost a few euros!

……

The good news for Real Madrid is that as the group winners of Group C, their opponents will be drawn from the eight runners-up in the group.

The bad news is that Arsenal, Liverpool, and their nemesis Lyon are among the eight group runners-up.

Arsenal and Liverpool are no match for Real Madrid. But Lyon is a somewhat unpredictable team, as if they are a natural counter to Real Madrid. When they face them, Real Madrid's players, especially the veterans, are somewhat intimidated.

"As long as we don't get Lyon, Liverpool, or Arsenal, getting a team like Celtic or Schalke 04 would be a good draw!"

Fenerbahce isn't particularly strong, but they're located too far away, and the Turkish team's home ground is notoriously difficult to beat, so Real Madrid doesn't want to draw them.

Actually, among the eight second-placed teams in the group stage, there is one team that deserves our attention: Roma, the runner-up in Serie A last season!
Lin Feng played against Roma quite a few times last season while playing for Inter Milan, and he could feel Roma's progress every time they faced each other.

Spalletti is truly something else; under his tutelage, Roma's tactics have become increasingly sophisticated, and the players' performances have improved significantly.

If Real Madrid doesn't take them seriously, they could suffer a great loss if they encounter them on the field in the future.

It's truly a case of perfect coincidence. Just as Lin Feng was about to warn his teammates to be careful of Roma, the raffle guest drew Real Madrid and Roma together.

"Real Madrid's opponent in the round of 16 will be Roma from Serie A!"

Upon hearing the host announce the opponent's name, everyone cast questioning glances at Lin Feng, Cannavaro, and other players who had previously played in Serie A.

"Roma is a very strong team, we can't be careless!"

Noticing his teammates' gazes, Lin Feng spoke succinctly.

Cannavaro cleared his throat and agreed:
"I agree with Lin Feng's point of view!"

The team members looked at each other in bewilderment. Both of the team's Ballon d'Or winners believed that the other team was not to be underestimated. Just who was this Roma team? Were they really that good?
……

Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away in the Roma team's locker room, the Roma players, having just finished their match, learned that their opponent in the knockout stage would be Real Madrid.

The expressions on everyone's faces varied, but the vast majority of them looked very solemn.

Real Madrid is already a strong team, and with that guy on the team, they are somewhat lacking in confidence about winning these two matches.

There was nothing I could do; I'd lost to that guy far too many times, and it was almost giving me a psychological trauma.

After finally outlasting him, I was finally free from his torment in the league, but I never expected to encounter him again in the Champions League so soon.

This thing really won't go away!
However, one person was very happy with the draw result, and that was Adriano.

Since Lin Feng left Serie A, Adriano has not seen him for a long time and misses him very much.

He should take this opportunity to ask the other party why they left without saying goodbye and whether they still considered him a friend.
Drawing Roma is neither good nor bad for Real Madrid.

Compared to the two Italian giants, they were lucky.

Inter Milan and AC Milan, these two unfortunate teams, have really had a run of bad luck this time.

Inter Milan drew Liverpool in the draw, while AC Milan drew Arsenal.

The Premier League's Big Four are all formidable opponents, and these two teams are also strong contenders in the Champions League.

Facing such a strong opponent in the first leg of the knockout stage is definitely not good news for either team.

If they're unlucky, they might be eliminated in the round of 16.

Some people are unlucky, while others are lucky.

"Damn, what incredible luck Barcelona had! They drew the weakest team in the quarterfinals!"

"Celtic isn't the weakest, but they're not far off. What's the difference between Barcelona drawing them and getting a guaranteed spot in the quarterfinals?"

"Damn it, why didn't they draw Chelsea for Barcelona?!"

"Chelsea are group winners, so they won't meet again until the quarterfinals!"

As they were chatting, they suddenly felt a chill down their spines.

Looking back, they found the coach standing behind them.

……

The Champions League matches are still more than a month away, so far that everyone forgets about them in the blink of an eye after watching the draw ceremony.

With only one round left in La Liga before the winter break, people are now more concerned about where to go on vacation during the winter break than the Champions League, which starts a month later.

A few days later, the 19th round of La Liga kicked off.

In this round, neither Barcelona nor Real Madrid faced particularly strong opponents. Barcelona thrashed Murcia 4-0 at home, while Real Madrid easily defeated Levante 2-0 away.

After resting and recuperating, Lin Feng started the game and scored both of the team's goals.

Meanwhile, Messi also scored two goals and provided an assist in the match against Murcia, performing even better than Lin Feng!

However, due to injury, Messi missed several games in the middle of the season, causing him to lag behind Lin Feng in terms of statistics.

With all 19 rounds of the first half of the La Liga season completed, Lin Feng has delivered an impressive record of 26 goals and 12 assists in 16 appearances.

With a staggering 26 goals in the first half of the season, he has broken the historical record of La Liga, which is over a century old.

Their goal-scoring efficiency of 1.6 goals per game is unmatched in the top five European leagues.

Compared to him, Messi's record of 16 goals and 9 assists in 15 games pales in comparison.

For a young player like Messi, who has just turned 20, an average goal-scoring efficiency of more than one goal per game is truly terrifying.

If Lin Feng hadn't existed, he would definitely have become the focus of attention from all sides.

Unfortunately, his brilliance was completely overshadowed by Lin Feng.

Faced with the opponent's more impressive statistics and Real Madrid's superior record, Messi really has nothing to boast about.

If I had to say, he dribbled past more people than Lin Feng.

However, this has a lot to do with their positions and playing styles. Messi plays as a winger, so he naturally has to try to dribble past opponents and break through defenses frequently.

Lin Feng plays as an attacking midfielder, and his primary tasks are passing, organizing, and providing ammunition for his teammates.

After the final match of the first half of the season, La Liga entered its winter break.

Because of the 2008 European Championship, this year's winter break is relatively short, only half a month.

But compared to the Premier League, which has no winter break, a two-week break is already quite good.

The start of the winter break also means the opening of the transfer window.

The most talked-about transfer target this winter transfer window is undoubtedly Barcelona's star player, Ronaldinho. (End of Chapter)