Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

The loss to China seemed to have really affected the morale of the British team. In the subsequent World Cup qualifiers, England suffered a shock defeat to Ukraine, ending their eight-game winning streak.

Two consecutive defeats have made England's manager, Fabio Capello, a target of criticism and a source of blame from many British fans.

Although the British team, under his leadership, had already secured a World Cup spot, fans were still not satisfied and were still holding him accountable for the failure.

But just a few days later, when news came that neighboring France had suffered a shock defeat to Serbia and failed to qualify directly for the World Cup, the British attention was completely drawn away.

No one kept bringing up Capello anymore; the vast majority of British fans flocked to the internet to mock the Frenchman.

Since Zidane's retirement and France's rebuilding period, the French national team's performance has been less than ideal.

But no one expected that they couldn't even beat Serbia!

Serbia is a small country with a population of only a few million, and the number of players playing in the top five leagues is less than a fraction of that of the French national team.

The two teams are not evenly matched in terms of their paper strength and experience, but the team that took first place in the group was not the seemingly stronger French team, but the dark horse Serbia.

The announcement of this result caused a huge uproar throughout European football.

The hashtag 'France fails to qualify for the World Cup' briefly trended on Twitter.

The French national team legends, in interviews, expressed their deep sorrow over the team's current situation, as if tomorrow were the end of the world.

Actually, the French team still has a breath left; they're not completely dead yet!

Although they failed to secure a direct ticket to the World Cup, Europe has 13 slots, and in addition to the nine group winners, four more slots will be allocated to the winners of the playoffs.

France's performance is good enough to qualify for the playoffs. As long as they aren't too unlucky and draw a strong opponent, with their strength, seizing this last opportunity and securing a ticket to the World Cup shouldn't be difficult.

But what if?
After all, when a team starts to break through its lower limit, you never know where its bottom is.

Although it happened far away in Europe, the decline of the French team still deeply affected Chinese fans.

The Chinese team, a grassroots team with little foundation, was able to rise rapidly because a superstar suddenly appeared.

Even a traditionally strong team like the French national team can falter due to the retirement of a key player.

It is clear that the landscape of world football is not static.

Perhaps one day in the future, the Chinese team will be able to become a top team, but of course, it is also possible that it will be brought back to its original state.

……

After the FIFA international break ended, Real Madrid received two pieces of bad news.

Midfielder Xabi Alonso and defensive stalwart Thiago Silva have been injured while playing for their respective national teams and will be sidelined for 3-5 weeks.

Both players are key players for Real Madrid in the new season, and their absence will have a significant impact on Real Madrid's competitiveness in the league and the Champions League.

Mourinho felt somewhat irritated when he received these two messages.

The new season has just begun, and an injury crisis has already started. It's unimaginable how serious the injury situation will become as the schedule becomes more congested and the intensity of the games increases!
Almost every year, top teams like Real Madrid are affected by injuries.

In addition to playing in club matches, their players also have to shoulder heavy national team duties.

Some of these are places like South America, which are far from the world's core and geographically very far away. Even without a layover, a direct flight to Europe takes 12 hours!
Every time the players return home for a match, they spend almost a day just on the plane.

Such long-distance travel is a huge burden on the players' bodies, and they naturally can't withstand it for long periods of time.

However, there is also good news. With the qualifiers in Europe and South America now over, national teams will play fewer matches in the near future, which will reduce the strain on the players.

Given that many players had participated in national team matches, Mourinho reduced the training volume and intensity on the second day to allow the players to recover better.

"Sigh, the problems with the national team are something our club has to clean up. It's so unfair!"

Club manager Valdano couldn't help but complain.

The club pays the players' salaries, and it is also the club that provides them with training equipment and medical care.

As a result, after the players developed at their clubs, the national team stepped in to reap the benefits and recruited the players they had trained for free.

If it were just a matter of borrowing players, that would be fine. The problem is that players often get injured during national team matches.

Each of their injuries represents a huge loss for the club.

"Just bear with it. Although we are the ones who pay, FIFA and even the players themselves are biased towards the national team, and it's difficult for us to fight against them."

Tactical analyst Faria bluntly stated that while FIFA also values ​​leagues, it clearly places greater emphasis on international tournaments such as the World Cup.

As for the players, although the national team doesn't pay them salaries, they even have to pay out of pocket.

But they are willing to go back to play even if it costs them money. If the club tries to stop them, it may cause them to become enemies.

So even if the club is unhappy, there's nothing they can do to change the situation.

Mourinho ignored the two men's complaints and called over the fitness coach, Lauro, fixing his gaze on Lin Feng:

How is Lin doing?

Everyone else can get hurt, but Lin Feng can't.

Although Real Madrid has already brought in a backup for him during the summer transfer window, Modric is a late bloomer and is still somewhat inexperienced, unable to replace Lin Feng's position.

"Lin is in good condition, but given that he has also participated in two games with the Chinese team, and that he has traveled all over the world, I suggest that we try to reduce his playing time to reduce the risk of injury!"

There are often warning signs before a player suffers an injury, namely muscle fatigue.

However, muscle fatigue is difficult to observe visually from the outside. It is very likely that everything will look normal, but an injury will occur as soon as the player enters the game.

On October 18, after a hiatus of more than half a month, La Liga resumed.

Real Madrid, playing at home, will face the challenge of Valladolid.

Although their opponents are not strong, they have caused Real Madrid considerable trouble in the past few seasons.

Facing such an opponent, Real Madrid fans expected the team to field its strongest lineup and teach their rivals a lesson at home. However, Mourinho did not do so. Apart from players like Raul who were not called up to the national team, he rested most of the key players who had previously participated in national team matches.

Real Madrid overestimated themselves and fielded a lineup consisting of half starters and half substitutes to face their opponents.

This lineup stunned the Real Madrid fans who came to watch the game, and it also gave the Valladolid coach, who had already resigned himself to losing, a new idea:
Perhaps, they have a chance to get points against this depleted Real Madrid team?
At halftime, the score was tied 1-1.

Valladolid performed admirably playing away from home, managing to draw with Real Madrid.

This scoreline exacerbated the concerns of Real Madrid fans and further fueled the discontent of those who were already confused and dissatisfied with Mourinho's starting lineup.
What is Mourinho up to?

I think their previous good record made them too arrogant!

[I really don't understand how someone could hold such a good hand and not know how to play it, or even play it recklessly!]

[If you can't do it, get out! With this Real Madrid squad, even a dog could win if the manager was on a leash!]

Mourinho doesn't see the fans' attacks; if he did, given his personality, he would most likely choose to retaliate directly.

His decision to arrange the team's starting lineup in this way was not out of disrespect for the opponents or to make a mess of things.

This is purely to prepare for the three-front war that will be launched in November and December!
If we don't start rotating players now, are we going to wait until the team is riddled with injuries and has no one available before we start rotating players?

Although the team didn't play well in the first half and failed to take the lead, they still managed to score.

But Mourinho wasn't worried; with Real Madrid's strength, the second half would be enough to end the game.

In the 60th minute of the second half, Real Madrid made the first substitutions, with superstars Lin Feng and Cristiano Ronaldo coming on at the same time.

The effect of the two players coming on was immediate. In the 65th minute of the second half, Lin Feng broke free of the defender in midfield and delivered a through pass. Ronaldo rushed into the penalty area and put the ball into the opponent's goal with a delicate push shot.

Five minutes later, their connection worked again.

Lin Feng's corner kick was delivered into the penalty area, and Ronaldo leaped high to head the ball into the opponent's goal.

The two ended the battle in just 10 minutes after they entered the arena!
Valladolid's previous efforts were simply a joke in the face of Real Madrid's two superstars!
Fans who had previously criticized Mourinho's player selection have now stopped mentioning it altogether, as if nothing had ever happened.

……

Having successfully implemented rotation in the league and tasted its benefits, Mourinho brought this approach to the Champions League.

On October 22, Real Madrid hosted AC Milan, the Italian Serie A giants, at the Bernabéu Stadium.

AC Milan's performance this season has been poor due to the aging squad and the departures of Kaká and the highly successful coach Ancelotti.

In the eight Serie A matches that have already concluded, AC Milan has only managed a record of 3 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses.

In the previous two rounds of the Champions League group stage, before facing Real Madrid, AC Milan only managed one win and one loss, and is currently ranked second in the group due to their superior goal difference.

Given AC Milan's weakness and Real Madrid's strength, mainstream media and betting companies are more inclined to predict a Real Madrid victory in this match.

But after seeing Real Madrid's starting lineup, the outside world became a little uncertain.

Although AC Milan has declined, it was once a powerhouse.

Isn't Real Madrid's starting lineup a bit too disrespectful?
AC Milan's players seemed to be enraged as well, unleashing an amazing fighting spirit at the Bernabéu Stadium. In particular, Ronaldinho, who had been sold by Barcelona and was no longer at his peak, seemed to have become five years younger in this match, returning to his prime!
At the end of the first half, the score was 2-0, but it wasn't Real Madrid who scored the two goals, but AC Milan!

Pato, the Brazilian who just won the Golden Boy award, performed brilliantly in the first half, scoring two goals with his head and feet. His brilliance even overshadowed the two superstars on the opposing team, stunning the entire stadium.

Many Real Madrid fans, while criticizing Mourinho for his blunders, were also inquiring about Pato, clearly showing great interest in him.

Mourinho hadn't expected Milan, who were already on the decline, to be able to unleash such fighting power, so he hurriedly brought on his key players in the second half to save the day.

The substitutions had a clear effect, with Real Madrid scoring two goals in the 70th and 81st minutes to level the score.

But AC Milan is no ordinary team like Valladolid. With their rich experience, they tenaciously withstood Real Madrid's attack and seized a set-piece opportunity to snatch a victory in stoppage time.

Ultimately, Real Madrid, playing at home, lost 2-3 to AC Milan, causing the biggest upset of this round of Champions League!
Real Madrid, having lost the match, became the target of criticism and attacks from all sides.

The two teams are not even in the same league on paper, and their market value is several times higher!
It's hard to say whether AC Milan's strength is still in the top ten, and they are by no means a favorite to win the title.

As a result, Real Madrid stumbled against such teams. If they were to face teams of the caliber of Bayern Munich, Barcelona, ​​or Manchester United, could they really win given their current form?

Among them, the one who received the most criticism was the team's head coach, Mourinho.

The outside world has placed most of the blame for the loss on him, believing that his aggressive rotation led to Real Madrid's defeat.

Mourinho naturally rejected this criticism:

"I don't think there's anything wrong with my rotation arrangements; team rotation is essential!"

"It's just a group stage match; losing won't affect our chances of winning the championship!"

Then they ignored the criticism from the outside world and continued to do things their own way.

Although there is criticism from the outside world that Mourinho is stubborn and arrogant.

But his rotations did help the players get through the slump after FIFA international breaks.

On November 25, the 8th round of La Liga kicked off.

Real Madrid will visit the Mill Stadium to face Sporting Gijón, who are currently ranked 7th in the league.

Sporting Gijón had initially thought that Real Madrid's recent poor form meant they could take points from the league leaders.

Unexpectedly, Real Madrid staged a strong comeback!
In this match, Real Madrid, who had been rested and recuperating, were in top form, with three players scoring in the first half alone, and that number increasing to five in the second half!
When the game ended, the score on the big screen was frozen at the glaring number 7:0!

Lin Feng contributed 3 assists and 2 goals, earning him the MVP award for the match.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice, once again demonstrating his exceptional scoring efficiency as a top striker.

In addition, Benzema, Ramos, Raul and others also scored a goal in this match.

Because Barcelona faltered, being held to a draw by Valencia in the last round, Real Madrid, with their eighth consecutive victory, firmly sit atop the league table and are charging towards their 32nd league title! (End of Chapter)