Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Many new faces have appeared at Real Madrid's training ground.

Several players who joined during the winter break, such as Benzema, Huntelaar, and Albiol, arrived at the training base early, clearly not wanting to leave a bad impression on the coach by being late on their first day with the team.

The new players were unfamiliar with everything and therefore appeared somewhat reserved.

Benzema, in particular, looked like a country bumpkin visiting a big city for the first time, nervously keeping his head down and not daring to look at the Real Madrid players.

Upon seeing this, captain Raul took the initiative to go up and greet the newcomers, welcoming them on behalf of the team and the locker room.

"Come, let me introduce you. This is our Ballon d'Or winner and defensive stalwart—Cannavaro, one of the greatest defenders in football history!"

Cannavaro greeted the newcomers with a smile and said modestly:

"Don't listen to Blanco's nonsense. My current ability is far from deserving the title of a historically great defender. As for the Ballon d'Or, haha, that's just thanks to the team!"

The newcomers naturally didn't dare to be disrespectful to Cannavaro just because he was humble. Cannavaro was a veteran in the football world, and many of them had grown up watching him play, so they all showed him great respect.

As the only player in football history to win the Ballon d'Or as a defender, Cannavaro's historical status has long been established.

However, his strength has indeed declined significantly.

Cannavaro's three-year contract with Real Madrid expires this summer, but so far, the club has shown no intention of renewing it.

Therefore, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Cannavaro will leave Real Madrid when his contract expires this summer.

That's why Real Madrid is in such a hurry to add a center-back.

After Cannavaro came Casillas, who, like Cannavaro, was Real Madrid's vice-captain and had a long enough seniority in the team.

Compared to Cannavaro, the new players have more respect for Casillas because they all know that he is a bigwig of Real Madrid's homegrown talent, with impeccable roots and a very high status within the team.

If you want to establish yourself at Real Madrid in the long run, you have to maintain a good relationship with Casillas, otherwise you won't even be able to stay in the locker room.

After introducing the two vice-captains, Cannavaro and Casillas, to the new players, Raul brought the three newcomers directly to Lin Feng.

"I don't need to introduce him, right? You've probably all heard of his name by now. Some of you play as strikers. If you want to score more goals in the game, you'll have to get on good terms with Lin. With his help, scoring goals will be as easy as eating and drinking!"

Raul has personally experienced Lin Feng's superb assists, and no one knows better than him what it feels like to receive a brilliant pass from Lin Feng during a match!
Van Nistelrooy must understand, after all, he scored more goals than Van Nistelrooy last season. Unfortunately, Van Nistelrooy is out for the season and is currently recovering at home!
The players were even more enthusiastic than before, and even Benzema, who is not good with words, forced a smile.

Although they respected the seniority of the veterans, they admired the world's number one player from the bottom of their hearts.

It could even be said that a large part of the reason these people chose to join Real Madrid was because of Lin Feng.

"Captain is joking. Don't feel pressured. Just do your best on the field. If you create an opportunity, I'll pass the ball to you!"

That's what they say, but there are still differences in how close or distant the relationship is.

When both forwards have made their way into space, the midfielder will instinctively choose to pass the ball to the player they are on good terms with.

Therefore, both Benzema and Huntelaar secretly resolved to cultivate a good relationship with Lin Feng.

Seeing the burning gazes the two were giving Lin Feng, Peipei couldn't help but frown.

Are these two new guys trying to steal Brother Lin's position as his underling?

……

Mourinho arrived late, when almost all the players had arrived.

Judging from his serious expression, he didn't seem to be in a very good mood.

Seeing that the head coach was in a bad mood, the players dispersed and pretended to train seriously, not wanting to provoke him.

Mourinho has a bad temper, and it's common for him to swear on the training ground and in the locker room.

Mourinho's bad mood is understandable; due to the team's terrible performance in the first half of the season, he is under a lot of pressure in the second half.

Although catching up with Barcelona in the league has become almost impossible, Real Madrid cannot continue with this inconsistent performance.

As for the Champions League, although Real Madrid's management did not give him a strict order, considering how badly the league had become, if the team failed to achieve anything in the Champions League, he would not only fail to satisfy the club, but also fail to satisfy the fans.

Mourinho clapped his hands, gathered the players together, and began his address:
"Our performance in the first half of the season was not good, so the team invested a huge sum of 100 million euros during this winter break and made several big deals in the transfer market. Now the money is spent and the players are bought. If the performance in the second half of the season does not improve, then it is your and my problem!"

He emphasized his last sentence so that the players would feel his attitude.

He wasn't joking with the players; if the team's performance in the second half of the season wasn't good, he really would turn on them.

Perhaps in Mourinho's view, the team's poor performance in the first half of the season was due to his leniency towards the players and his lack of strict management.

Therefore, before the start of the second half of the season, he further refined and strengthened the management and training requirements for the players.

To get a chance to play, you need to show your attitude during training and your performance in intra-team scrimmages. The capable will rise, and the mediocre will fall.

The team's bench depth has been greatly improved due to the introduction of several new players.

Mourinho has the confidence to implement this policy. Perhaps it is unfair to the veterans, but Real Madrid is not a retirement home; Real Madrid is a professional team that pursues glory.

When veterans decline in ability, they should give their positions to younger players.

The reactions to Mourinho's words varied.

Veterans like Cannavaro had very serious expressions on their faces.

But the young players in the team were all overjoyed when they heard Mourinho's announcement.

Competing fairly based solely on ability and performance, without relying on fame or seniority, is definitely a good thing for them.

Many people have realized that Real Madrid is accelerating its generational transition.

……

On January 22, Real Madrid made their final signing of the winter break, beating AC Milan to a €12 million deal to acquire Brazilian center-back Thiago Silva. While the transfer fee wasn't high, it sparked widespread controversy.

Many Real Madrid fans are puzzled by this transfer, believing that Thiago Silva has a poor resume and is not young.

The worst part is that this guy is a 'flop' who has already been rejected by the top five leagues. What makes Real Madrid so willing to pay 1200 million euros for him?

Let alone 1200 million euros, even 500 million euros would be considered too expensive by Real Madrid fans.

Therefore, after the news of this transfer came out, many Barcelona fans began to ridicule Real Madrid's transfer, mocking Real Madrid for being foolish and spending too much money, buying just any kind of player.

Mourinho wasn't actually interested in Thiago Silva; he was eyeing another Brazilian defender, David Luiz, who currently plays for Benfica.

Compared to the Brazilian league where Thiago Silva plays, Mourinho, being Portuguese, is obviously more familiar with the Portuguese league.

He has many connections in Portugal, including a big-name agent like Mendes, who can help him discover and select talented young players.

So David Luiz had barely established himself at Benfica when he immediately came into Mourinho's sights.

As for Thiago Silva, Mourinho hadn't paid much attention to him before, since the guy had already proven that he couldn't adapt to the top five leagues and wasn't worth paying attention to.

However, Real Madrid's chief scout strongly recommended that the club sign the player, citing his enormous potential and the fact that he is currently attracting attention from several European giants, including the two Milan clubs, Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, and Arsenal and Liverpool in the Premier League.

If Thiago Silva's ability were really that bad, he wouldn't have been able to attract the attention of so many top clubs at the same time.

Either he's been underestimated, or so many teams have misjudged him.

When Real Madrid learned that AC Milan was preparing to submit a €1000 million offer, they knew they couldn't wait any longer, so they decisively added €200 million, snatching Thiago Silva away before AC Milan could.

Anyway, this amount of money is not much for Real Madrid, and they can afford it. At worst, they can just treat it as a lottery ticket.

AC Milan's management was furious at being snatched away. With Maldini about to retire, they desperately needed to bring in new players to fill the void, but the player they had finally set their sights on was snatched away by Real Madrid.

Moreover, Real Madrid acted too quickly. Although their offer of 1200 million euros was higher than AC Milan's offer, AC Milan could afford that amount.

Unfortunately, Real Madrid didn't give them a chance to compete at all, and finished things up before AC Milan even entered the field.

AC Milan, left with no other option, had to turn the tables and snatch the player Mourinho had his eye on.

The day after Real Madrid officially announced Thiago Silva's signing, AC Milan announced on their official website that they had signed another Brazilian defender, David Luiz, from Benfica for €1500 million.

Milan fans are fairly satisfied with the transfer, because on the surface, David Luiz, who has already proven himself in the Portuguese league, seems to be better than Thiago Silva, and he is also younger and has greater potential for future appreciation.

As a result, even AC Milan fans joined in the mockery of Real Madrid:
[Thanks to Real Madrid for sending us an even better defender!]

……

Because he wasn't the player he signed, coupled with the ridicule from the outside world, Mourinho was somewhat resistant to Thiago Silva's attitude.

Not only were he rarely given a chance to play, but he was also rarely given much attention during daily training.

La Liga resumed on January 25.

Real Madrid will host Deportivo La Coruña at home.

During the first half of the league season, Real Madrid suffered a surprising away defeat to their opponent.

That match was seen by many Real Madrid fans as the beginning of Real Madrid's bad luck this season, so before this match, Real Madrid fans were looking forward to a thrilling revenge battle.

Mourinho also attached great importance to this match; if Real Madrid loses again, they will be defeated twice by their opponents.

It is extremely shameful for a top La Liga team to be defeated twice by an ordinary team.

If this were to happen, he felt that he might be released by Real Madrid before the season even ended.

There is a lot of attention on this match because Real Madrid made some big moves during the winter break.

With an expenditure of 100 million euros, Real Madrid topped the list of the five major leagues. Many teams don't even spend that much during the summer transfer window, but Real Madrid did it during the winter break.

As a result, the outside world is very curious about how Real Madrid's strength will change in the second half of the season after making big-money signings.
Real Madrid made some personnel adjustments for this match. Instead of the €4000 million man Benzema, Raul was partnered with the super striker Huntelaar from the Dutch Eredivisie.

In defense, Cannavaro's starting position was taken by new signing Albiol.

Perhaps due to the lack of integration between the new players and the team, Real Madrid did not play well in the first half, with the two forwards repeatedly wasting passes from the midfielders.

Captain Raul, in particular, seemed too eager to score, which made him play a bit too hastily, resulting in the loss of several excellent opportunities due to his impatience.

As for Huntelaar, being a newcomer, he has not yet proven his ability, so his teammates rarely consider him as their first choice when passing the ball, resulting in many of his runs and stretches in the attacking third going to waste.

However, in the second half, when Lin Feng noticed that Raul was not in good form and began to change his passing targets, Huntelaar entered his comfort zone.

In a quick attack in the 75th minute of the second half, Lin Feng looked at Raul on the left, but passed the ball to Huntelaar on the right, who was unmarked.

The latter, after receiving the ball, displayed his top-notch striker skills, ignoring the goalkeeper's rush out, and without stopping the ball, pushed it into the goal.

Don't underestimate this move; many strikers tend to miss high shots when handling this type of ball.

After passing the ball, Lin Feng kept observing Huntelaar's choice.

Even Lin Feng was impressed by how the other party handled the situation.

Whether someone is a top-tier marksman can be determined from their subconscious choices.

Without a doubt, Huntelaar is such a top striker.

Lin Feng even felt that this guy's shooting skills were better than Van Nistelrooy's. As long as he was paired with a good midfielder, his goal tally would definitely be amazing over the course of a season.

However, this kind of marksman who relies entirely on teammates to feed him opportunities has significant limitations.

Without support from their teammates, they lack the ability to create opportunities on their own, easily leading to the feeling of playing with one less player. (End of Chapter)