Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

On February 8th, the 22nd round of La Liga kicked off, with Real Madrid hosting Racing Santander.

Because tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, some Chinese fans who came to watch the game displayed banners wishing Lin Feng a happy Lantern Festival.

Lin Feng smiled knowingly upon seeing this, and specially stepped forward to take a group photo with the Chinese fans who had traveled from afar, and also gave them his autograph.

This heartwarming scene was captured by the cameras on site.

"Hehe, Lin Feng is signing autographs for fans. Since Lin Feng joined Real Madrid last season, there have been more and more Chinese fans at the Bernabéu Stadium. We can often see various banners and slogans held up by Chinese fans at the stadium."

This scene is no stranger to commentators who frequently commentate on Real Madrid matches, but it wasn't like this a few years ago.

Although Real Madrid is the top club in Europe, a few years ago in China, their influence might not have surpassed that of Manchester United and AC Milan, and both teams had a large number of fans.

However, with Lin Feng's arrival and Real Madrid winning their tenth Champions League title last season, Real Madrid's influence in China has skyrocketed, and they are now the club with the most fans in the country, as evidenced by the number of followers on Baidu Tieba.

However, it's difficult to say how many of these 'Real Madrid fans' genuinely like Real Madrid or are simply influenced by Lin Feng and have developed a liking for the team.

Seeing the fans who went to the game get Lin Feng's autograph and photos, those fans who couldn't go to the game were so jealous they were practically tearing their own bones apart.

[Damn it, I want to go to the Bernabéu to watch the game too, but the round-trip airfare is too expensive!]

[Who can argue with that? A round trip, including food, accommodation, and tickets, would cost ten or twenty thousand yuan. It's really not cheap!]

Ten or twenty thousand yuan is indeed a considerable sum for ordinary wage earners in China at this time, requiring them to save for more than half a year.

[Sigh, if only I could watch Real Madrid play in my hometown!]

Real Madrid may embark on an Asian tour this summer, which will give us a chance to see them play!

What's so interesting about those commercially driven matches? Not only do they rarely feature star players, but the opponents are mostly local teams—weak and lacking in entertainment value. They're nowhere near as exciting as a clash between the league champions and the cup champions like in the Serie A Super Cup!

Indeed, I still remember Inter Milan's comeback victory against Roma at Shanghai Stadium three years ago to win the championship. It was so damn exciting!

These words from netizens resonated with many people, even though in recent years, almost every year, top European clubs have come to play some matches.

But the most impressive event was the Serie A Super Cup before the 06-07 season.

Compared to most friendly matches between top clubs and local teams, this game, a clash between Serie A champions Inter Milan and Serie A runners-up Roma, is clearly more exciting.

Because the match involved the championship and the long-standing rivalry between the two teams, both sides were determined to win and had no intention of holding back.

Thus, a scene that stunned all the fans occurred in the first half – Roma scored three goals in a row, taking a commanding lead over Inter Milan.

This score not only stunned Inter Milan, but also left the 70,000 to 80,000 Chinese fans in attendance completely dumbfounded, as if they had been hit over the head.

But Inter Milan, trailing by a large margin, did not give up. Instead, under Lin Feng's leadership, they launched a counterattack, scoring four goals in the following minutes and ultimately winning 4-3 against Roma to lift the Super Cup trophy.

This was absolutely the highest-level, most dramatic, and most thrilling match that Chinese fans had ever seen on their home turf.

Since watching that match, fans have felt that watching domestic Chinese Super League and AFC Champions League matches is not quite right, and they always dream of having the opportunity to enjoy matches of this level at home again.

Could La Liga hold its Super Cup overseas, like Serie A did before? That would give us something to look forward to!

[I think it's difficult. La Liga is different from Serie A. Serie A's Super Cup is held before the season starts, while La Liga's Super Cup is played during the winter break in the middle of the season. Also, before coming to China, Serie A's Super Cup already had experience hosting matches overseas, but La Liga's Super Cup had never been held abroad before.]

I think we shouldn't be so certain. After all, there's always a first time. With the Chinese market expanding, it wouldn't be difficult for La Liga to change the rules to appeal to the Chinese market. It's just that the distance is a bit far, which is a significant challenge for teams that need to travel back and forth to participate.

The match began amidst the fans' casual conversation.

Mourinho has shown great respect for Racing Santander due to their impressive performance in the last match.

Real Madrid played this match very seriously and cautiously, adopting the attitude they would use against a strong opponent when facing Racing Santander.

Real Madrid's attitude left Racing Santander's players and coaches somewhat bewildered.

As for this?
We're just an ordinary team in the middle of the league standings, why are you making it seem like we're playing against a top team?
With Real Madrid taking such a strong stance, Racing Santander's already weak attack was unable to threaten Real Madrid's goal at all.

However, their defense is also quite solid, and Real Madrid won't be able to break through their defense anytime soon.

Because Real Madrid's match is a day earlier than Barcelona's, many Barcelona fans are also closely following the outcome of this game.

In their view, Racing Santander, who almost ended their unbeaten run, clearly has something special, while Real Madrid's previous form was not good, so there is a considerable possibility of an upset in this match.

If Racing Santander really does defeat Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, that would be a real problem.

As the first half ended, the score seemed to be developing in the direction that Barcelona fans hoped for.

But in the second half, Mourinho made a rare move by deploying a three-striker formation, and Racing Santander's goal was finally breached.

In the 67th minute, Lin Feng received the ball in the attacking third and was pressed by the opponent. He turned and passed the ball back to Mascherano, while taking the opportunity to adjust his position, avoid the opponent's defenders, and plan his next passing route.

As soon as Xiao Ma saw Lin Feng's movements, he guessed his intention and tacitly passed the ball to Lin Feng's feet again.

Lin Feng passed the ball to Benzema at the edge of the penalty area.

These two passes completely disrupted Racing Santander's defensive rhythm. When Lin Feng passed the ball back, the opponent's formation was pushing forward.

But Real Madrid's two forward passes completely tore apart the opponent's defense.

Benzema was prepared for the unexpected pass, and the moment he received the ball, he drew his bow and prepared to shoot.

Upon seeing this, the opposing defenders rushed forward to block, and even the goalkeeper on the goal line was ready to make a save.

However, Benzema's shot was a feint, fooling the opposing defender before changing his shot into a pass, gently pushing the ball into the opponent's penalty area with the instep of his right foot.

A white figure rushed in from outside like lightning, and with no one defending him, he received a pass from Benzema and pushed the ball into the empty net.

The score became 1-0, and Real Madrid finally broke the deadlock.

The goal scorer was none other than Lin Feng himself!
"Beautifully passed on!"

After scoring, Lin Feng ran to Benzema and gave him a high-five and a hug.

Benzema could have easily taken the shot himself, but he chose to play a supporting role and pass the ball to his teammate. Players who sacrifice themselves and willingly play a supporting role are welcome in any team.

Upon seeing Lin Feng score, his teammates swarmed over, surrounding the two players in the middle.

Most people praised Lin Feng's positioning and shooting, but some players who were closer and saw Benzema's contribution to the goal also praised Benzema.

"Thank you, thank you for your recognition. I... I just felt I wasn't confident about the shot, so I passed it to Brother Lin."

Benzema felt very satisfied to receive recognition from his teammates, but at the same time he was very nervous, and he accidentally revealed his secrets.

"Haha, you can't even handle this position? Looks like you need to practice your shooting skills more!"

"We have several sharpshooters on our team. You've come to the right place. Learn from them, and I guarantee you'll become a top sharpshooter someday!"

Benzema's honesty amused his teammates, who teased him about it.

Benzema, who is not good with words, remained silent and simply nodded.

He may have seemed a bit perfunctory, but he actually listened to all his teammates' suggestions.

His shooting skills definitely need improvement.

Lin Feng's goal broke the deadlock, forcing Racing Santander, who could no longer defend, to attack, but this also gave Real Madrid more counter-attacking opportunities.

In the 78th minute, Real Madrid launched a counter-attack in midfield. Lin Feng delivered a precise long pass to Higuain on the wing. Higuain dribbled into the penalty area and fired a shot from a tight angle to score, making the score 2-0.
Five minutes later, Lin Feng returned the favor with a superb through ball, assisting Benzema to score his first goal for Real Madrid!
Ultimately, thanks to three goals from their attacking trident, Real Madrid secured a resounding 3-0 victory over Racing Santander, not only disappointing Barcelona fans who were waiting to see them fail, but also achieving their seventh consecutive league win.

After securing this seven-game winning streak, Real Madrid's points total reached 51, putting them back in second place in the league standings, temporarily trailing Barcelona by 8 points, who have played one game less.

However, just one day later, Barcelona decisively defeated Sporting Gijón 3-1 at home, giving Real Madrid no chance to catch up.

The disadvantage of La Liga having no third powerhouse team besides Barcelona and Real Madrid has been exposed.

That is, when one of the two Spanish giants has a huge lead, it is very difficult for the other team to catch up.

Because apart from himself, no other team in the league is a match for that powerhouse, and they cannot effectively stop them.

If La Liga could have four or five strong clubs or near-elite teams like the Premier League, the suspense would increase significantly.

Perhaps this is why the Premier League has become increasingly popular with fans around the world in the overseas broadcasting market in recent years.

……

After this round of league matches concludes, it will be FIFA's international match day again.

The Chinese team received a bye this time and was not scheduled to play a match.

Therefore, Zhu Guanghu did not choose to recall these players who were playing abroad, but instead selected a group of young players from the domestic league and led them to play two friendly matches against teams from Southeast Asia.

The results of the friendly match were not optimistic, with the young Chinese team winning one and drawing one.

Defeating Myanmar was an expected victory, as the Myanmar team is very weak and is at the bottom of the Southeast Asian rankings.

However, being held to a draw by Indonesia has left many fans dissatisfied. Indonesian football is not considered a strong team in Southeast Asia. In the past, when the Chinese team faced them, they could win simply by bombarding them with headers.

Although the Chinese team did not bring its main players this time, even if it is all young players, it can still defeat the opponent by relying on the old tactic of aerial bombardment.

The fact that they couldn't even win this game only shows that the younger generation's strength is indeed quite average, and they've even forgotten the magic formula that once helped them defeat Southeast Asian teams.

This has made many fans pessimistic about the future of the national football team. After Lin Feng and other players born in 1985, there are not many players with strength and distinctive characteristics in the domestic youth training system.

This makes them worry that after Lin Feng and others retire, will Chinese football be brought back to its original state overnight?
To outsiders, Chinese fans may seem a bit nitpicky.

It's just a friendly match we didn't win.

Is it really necessary to be so pessimistic?
However, those who do not plan for the future will have trouble in the present. To some extent, the concerns of Chinese fans are normal.

However, while Chinese fans are worried about the future, Japanese fans next door are already anxious about next year's World Cup.

On February 11, the highly anticipated match of Group A in the Asian Qualifiers for the 2 FIFA World Cup kicked off.

Playing at home, the Japanese team, facing direct group rivals Australia, struggled for 90 minutes but failed to break through, and were forced to accept a draw.

The inability to defeat their opponents in direct confrontations has made the Japanese team's situation in Group A more difficult.

Because of their previous heavy defeat to the Chinese team, the Japanese team's goal difference has turned into a negative number, and by a whopping 6 goals!
In this situation, to surpass the Australian team and advance, they must lead their opponents in points.

但此时A组的积分却是中国队3胜1平积10分；澳大利亚队2胜2平积8分；日本队1胜2平1负积5分。

They have slipped to third place in the standings, trailing second place by a full three points.

For Japan to advance, they either need to hope to redeem themselves in their next match against China, or they will have to fight tooth and nail against their opponents in the final round on home soil in Australia.

However, judging from the results and process of these two matches, it will be very difficult for the Japanese team to defeat these two teams, especially the current Chinese team, against which the Japanese team has almost no chance of winning.

As for defeating the Australian team, the Japanese team actually has a chance of winning given their strength.

However, the schedule was very unfavorable for the Japanese team, as their second match against Australia was scheduled for the final round.

If the Australian team doesn't falter in the following games, the 3-point difference is very likely to remain until then.

This means that the Japanese team will be under immense psychological pressure as they travel to Australia for a fierce battle.

In this state, it's questionable how much of the Japanese team's strength they can unleash.

Actually, the Japanese are too optimistic. What if the next time the Chinese team meets the Australian team, they play a fixed match again?

That would widen the gap between Japan and Australia to 4 points.

Even if the Japanese team defeats the Australian team, they will still be unable to advance.

It can be said that Japanese football has reached a crossroads! (End of Chapter)