Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Inside the training base, Klaus Schumacher greeted Lin Feng after seeing him, then hesitated for a moment before finally calling Lin Feng aside.

"Coach, you wanted to see me?"

Klaus Toppmöller hummed in agreement and nodded.

Then, after looking Lin Feng up and down, he said to him in a serious tone:

"The Olympics will start in two months. As the host country, we carry the expectations of over a billion people across the country. At this time, we must not let off-field factors affect our performance."

Although Klaus Toppmöller's words were very tactful, Lin Feng immediately understood the underlying meaning.

This is because she's worried that being in a relationship will affect her overall well-being!

Klaus Toppmöller didn't say much; he knew Lin Feng was a hardworking and disciplined player.

So it was just a suggestion, not something I pressed on or asked the other party to make any promises or write any guarantees. There was no need for that.

"By the way, after discussion among our coaching staff, we have decided to appoint you as the captain of the national Olympic team."

Klaus Toppmöller left without offering any further explanation, uttering only a single sentence.

Lin Feng was left standing there, stunned: Captain? Me?
……

"What does the coach want with you?"

As soon as Lin Feng returned to the training ground, his teammates gathered around and started gossiping, eager for a good show.

"It's nothing, I just mentioned the national Olympic team captain's situation."

"Captain? What could possibly happen to the captain? Wasn't it already decided that Brother Feng would be the captain and Brother Zhi the vice-captain? Could there be some change in the situation?"

Everyone was dumbfounded; they had already assumed in their hearts that the national Olympic team captain would be chosen from among the three over-age players.

Of the three, Li Weifeng has the best age and seniority, plus he is the captain of the national team, so he is the most popular choice and has been almost universally regarded as the captain of the Olympic team.

But judging from Lin Feng's words, it seems that's not the case.

The questions that everyone had were soon answered.

Half an hour later, head coach Klaus Toppmöller publicly announced the appointment of Lin Feng as captain and Zheng Zhi as vice-captain.

This news left everyone stunned, even though everyone knew Lin Feng's strength.

However, the captaincy is not simply linked to strength; it is also greatly related to the team members' seniority, seniority, and prestige within the team.

Take Manchester United captain Gary Neville, for example. He has hardly played this season, but as long as he is in the dressing room, he is the captain of Manchester United, and no one can take his place.

In addition, China is still a society that values ​​personal connections, and the seniority system is even more serious. When there are senior players with high prestige in the team, it is almost impossible for young players to be entrusted with important responsibilities.

Against this backdrop, Klaus Toppmöller made an exception and promoted Lin Feng to captain of the national Olympic team. This German old man is really bold!
The young players naturally wholeheartedly supported this appointment.

The main players of the national Olympic team are these young people, but the positions of captain and vice-captain have long been monopolized by senior players, which naturally makes the young players very dissatisfied.

Although they lack the courage to stand up and challenge these veteran players, they certainly have the guts to support Lin Feng, who is the same age as them.

Therefore, Lin Feng didn't need to show his face in person at all; he automatically gained the support of a lot of people.

But the more difficult ones are those over-age players, especially Li Weifeng, who was previously the most popular candidate for captain.

Lin Feng noticed that the other party's expression turned very ugly after Klaus Toppmöller announced the appointment, which made Lin Feng somewhat worried.

Li Weifeng has always had a fiery temper and is considered a troublemaker by many coaches.

If we can't change his mindset, he might turn from the team's anchor into a ticking time bomb.

Before Lin Feng could even go to find Li Weifeng, Li Weifeng took the initiative to come to his door.

Seeing Li Weifeng's aggressive demeanor, Zhou's teammates worriedly surrounded him, and several others stood in front of Lin Feng, protecting him behind them.

"What are you doing? What are you little brats doing? Do you think I'm here to fight?"

Li Weifeng raised an eyebrow and shouted.

"Aren't you?"

Someone, hiding in the crowd, asked a question timidly.

"Who the hell said that? Step forward and I promise I won't kill you!"

Lin Feng pushed through the crowd and stood before Li Weifeng, asking:
"Did Brother Feng need something from me?"

"Yeah, I'm convinced you're the captain, but I can't swallow this insult. Come on, let's have a one-on-one match. If you beat me, I'll acknowledge you as captain!"

Seeing the other person's serious expression, Lin Feng was certain that the other person was not joking.

He believed that what Li Weifeng said was true, after all, the other party was always straightforward and never held grudges; he would always lose his temper on the spot.

So saying he's challenging himself is actually just him giving himself a way out.

He himself knew that he would definitely lose in such a one-on-one fight. There was simply no one in the entire national team who could defend against Lin Feng in a one-on-one situation.

Even looking at the entire football world, there are very few people who can do this.

According to the player evaluation standards of Kickers, Li Weifeng can only be considered a national team player, while Lin Feng is a world-class player, a difference of two whole levels between the two.

Such a one-on-one fight was unfair to Li Weifeng, but since it was Li Weifeng who took the initiative to ask for it, Lin Feng did not refuse.

"Okay, I'll compete with you!"

Not only did he not refuse, but he even gave it his all, showing no intention of holding back.

The teammates around them wanted to persuade the two not to hurt their relationship, but seeing that the two were determined, they had no choice but to keep quiet and act as onlookers.

Seeing Lin Feng dribbling towards him, Li Weifeng was on high alert, his attention focused intently on the ball at Lin Feng's feet.

Lin Feng controlled the distance, and as he approached his opponent, he suddenly swayed his body to the left, as if he was about to pass by his opponent on the right.

The feint was so realistic that Li Weifeng instinctively tried to follow it, but he forcibly restrained himself, realizing that it was Lin Feng's feint.

Even so, Li Weifeng still fell for Lin Feng's trick when Lin Feng flicked the ball to the right.

Seeing that his opponent had shifted his weight, Lin Feng used a simple cowtail to flick the ball back, easily getting past Li Weifeng on his weak side.

"Come again!"

Li Weifeng was still somewhat unconvinced. He felt that he had been too nervous just now, and only thought about the opponent's initial feint, not expecting that the second move was also a feint.

Lin Feng nodded and dribbled the ball forward again.

This time, he didn't make any fancy moves at all; he simply overtook Li Weifeng from the outside.

Despite not making any feints this time, Li Weifeng quickly lost his position.

The opponent's explosiveness was too strong; he simply couldn't stop them except by committing a foul.

"Come again!"

This time, Li Weifeng gradually increased the distance between them to prevent Lin Feng from making a strong breakthrough.

Seeing this, Lin Feng adopted a strong attacking stance, but suddenly stopped as his opponent retreated, pretending to shoot directly. Li Weifeng fell for the trap and rushed over desperately to block Lin Feng's shooting angle.

But Lin Feng's shot was fake; his real intention was to dribble past the defender.

A smooth Marseille turn left Li Weifeng behind, and he easily tapped the ball into the empty net.

Stepping the ball down, Lin Feng looked at Li Weifeng, who was panting heavily behind him, and asked:
"Are you coming again?"

"Come!"

Li Weifeng said through gritted teeth, still unwilling to give up despite having failed three times in a row.

Lin Feng understood. Showing mercy to someone like Li Weifeng would only have the opposite effect. The right way to deal with him was to completely subdue him.

Since that's the case, then he doesn't need to consider the other party's feelings anymore.

Although he is not a dribbling master like Messi, Lin Feng has dribbled past many opponents on the field, but he also lacks exceptional dribbling skills.

In just a few minutes, Li Weifeng was driven to the brink of despair by Lin Feng.

Even though his opponent used most of the same techniques he had seen before, he just couldn't defend against them when he actually faced them.

Either my reaction was too slow, or my speed was too slow... in short, I just couldn't stop the other side.

"Poor Feng!"

"Hiss, isn't this a bit too much!"

"This is one-sided masochism!"

The teammates watching couldn't bear to watch anymore; it didn't feel like a competition, but rather Lin Feng unilaterally crushing the weak.

In front of Lin Feng, the national football team captain looked as helpless as a child.

"I'm done competing, I concede!"

Li Weifeng plopped down on the ground, panting heavily, his forehead covered in sweat, his eyes filled with confusion.

Li Weifeng was truly questioning his life. He knew there was a big gap between them, but he didn't expect it to be this big.

He had defended against aliens before, but even when facing aliens, he had never experienced such despair.

"I, Li Weifeng, keep my word. From now on, you are the captain of the national Olympic team. If anyone dares to disobey you as captain, you won't even need to lift a finger; I will teach them a lesson for you!"

Li Weifeng glared menacingly at the players watching around him. Because of his notorious reputation, neither the veteran nor the young players dared to meet his gaze.

This was beyond Lin Feng's expectations; he hadn't anticipated that defeating Li Weifeng would have such an effect.

Although Zheng Zhi had also fantasized about the captain's position, he was a shrewd person, and since the die was cast, he naturally wouldn't stand up against Lin Feng.

As for Sun Jihai, he had no interest in the captain's position.

In his opinion, Lin Feng deserved the title of captain. Only those who had studied abroad truly knew how terrifying Lin Feng's strength was.

Forget about seniority and seniority; they all have to step aside in the face of absolute strength.

……

Klaus Toppmöller knew that training alone was not enough, so during the team's training camp, he actively contacted opponents for the national Olympic team and arranged friendly matches.

On June 13, the Chinese Olympic team faced its first warm-up opponent – ​​Uruguay U23.

Uruguay is a traditional powerhouse in South America and a regular participant in the World Cup. In the last century, they won the World Cup twice and the Olympic Games twice, so their strength should not be underestimated.

In this match, Lin Feng played as captain for the first time.

Since the national Olympic team had not disclosed any information to the outside world beforehand, fans were all astonished when they saw Lin Feng wearing the captain's armband.

Am I seeing things? Why is the captain's armband on Lin Feng and not Li Weifeng?

[Could it be that the captain of the national Olympic team is not Li Weifeng but Zheng Zhi, and Zheng Zhi did not play in this match, which is why Lin Feng wore the captain's armband?]

Is it possible that the captain, even if he is Zheng Zhi, is not Li Weifeng, but Lin Feng?

[Impossible, absolutely impossible! 】

I admit Lin Feng is very strong, but he lacks the experience. He can't be the captain of the national Olympic team; the captain will definitely be either Li Weifeng or Zheng Zhi!

……

This Uruguayan team had many familiar faces to fans in later years, such as their two young strikers, Suarez and Cavani, who went on to achieve great success in the football world, especially Suarez, who became a legendary striker.

Although they didn't get a ticket to the Beijing Olympics, it wasn't because Uruguay was weak, but because Brazil and Argentina were too strong.

But compared to U23 teams from other continents, Uruguay's intensity is off the charts.

Playing at home, the Chinese Olympic team couldn't even hold on for halftime under the onslaught of strikers Suarez and Cavani, conceding a goal to their opponents.

Although Lin Feng's goal briefly leveled the score, the Chinese Olympic team conceded goals in the second half due to exhaustion and several mistakes by the center-backs.

Ultimately, the Chinese Olympic team lost 1-3 to their opponents, losing their first friendly match after the training camp.

Although Klaus Toppmöller said he didn't care about the results of the matches, because these matches were for the national Olympic team to train and test lineups, he cared more about the content of the matches than the results.

However, most fans disagreed with his statement, feeling instead that he was trying to save face.

[Sigh, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. Given the current state of the national Olympic team, it seems unlikely they'll make it to the Olympics this year!]

[If they can't even beat Uruguay, how can they possibly beat Brazil?]

Looks like we can only try to get second place in our group!

[Second place in the group isn't bad. If they're lucky enough to face a weaker group winner, the national Olympic team still has a chance to make it to the semi-finals!]

[Haha, Argentina, Nigeria, Italy—which of these three teams can the Chinese Olympic team beat? Still thinking about reaching the semi-finals? Let's get out of the group stage first. It would be a joke if we fell in the group stage!]

With the Olympics approaching, fans are paying increasing attention to this national Olympic team.

Even the slightest disturbance can spark heated discussions.

As Klaus Toppmöller said, this was just a warm-up match, and the outcome was not important.

The national Olympic team rested many key players in this match, such as midfielder Zheng Zhi, defender Sun Jihai, and forward Gao Lin, who did not even appear on the field.

With this lineup, the Chinese Olympic team managed to hold their own against Uruguay for the first seventy minutes of the match, which is actually quite good.

As for the subsequent collapse, it was due to two reasons: firstly, the players' physical condition declined, and secondly, the central defenders made several basic mistakes, giving the opponent opportunities.

Coincidentally, the opposing strikers were top-class strikers like Suarez and Cavani, and they dared to score if given the opportunity.

The situation is not as pessimistic as the fans imagined, but it is not optimistic either.

Feng Xiaoting's condition, in particular, is worrying.

After the match, Lin Feng immediately sought out Feng Xiaoting to find out what was going on with him.

He knew Feng Xiaoting's strength; this match was definitely not at his normal level. (End of Chapter)