Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Lin Feng also paid attention to the World Cup draw ceremony.

He wasn't as pessimistic about the Chinese team's group draw as some online fans.

Although Italy, the defending champions, are the group leader, their strength has declined significantly and they are no longer as formidable as they were four years ago.

Paraguay is quite strong; if he remembers correctly, they finished seventh in this World Cup.

However, their inability to defeat Japan in the knockout stage, and their subsequent penalty shootout, suggests that their strength is not as exaggerated as some might think. At best, they are evenly matched with China, and perhaps even weaker.

As for Slovakia, although it is a team from Europe, it is the weakest team in the group.

The only thing to worry about is that Slovakia is not a team that relies on star players. They made it to the World Cup because of their strict discipline, strong teamwork, and excellent execution.

Moreover, they adhere to a defensive counter-attacking tactic, which means the Chinese team must push forward to attack.

If they fail to break through after a prolonged attack, or if their defense makes a mistake that gives the opponent an opportunity, then the Chinese team could pull off an upset against them.

In short, the three opponents in this group are all quite strong, but not so hopeless.

Whether they can qualify depends entirely on the performance of the Chinese national football team.

With six months to go until the World Cup, and knowing their opponents in advance, the remaining six months are for the Chinese national team to finalize their lineup and find teams with similar strength and style to their group stage opponents for warm-up matches.

In this regard, it depends on whether the Football Association can provide support and find a suitable opponent.

……

Although the World Cup is still six months away from starting, Lin Feng could already clearly feel the impact of the World Cup after the group stage draw was announced.

In their first league match after New Year's Day 2010, Real Madrid suffered a major upset – the Galacticos were held to a draw by Osasuna, a mid-table team in the league, playing away from home.

This draw was quite unexpected, considering that Real Madrid's form has been incredibly strong in recent rounds since their El Clásico against Barcelona, ​​scoring 13 goals in three games, averaging 4.3 goals per game, making them the most potent attacking force in Europe.

However, Real Madrid failed to score a single goal at Osasuna's home ground.

In this match, the two teams' players were in completely different states, like heaven and earth.

Osasuna's players were like they were on steroids, running all over the field, fighting for every ball, and playing with tremendous intensity.

On the other hand, Real Madrid seemed intimidated by their opponents' momentum. After being fouled several times, some of their players became hesitant and unwilling to fight for the ball.

With the balance of power shifting, Real Madrid's true strength was not brought into play, and after missing several opportunities, they could only helplessly accept the draw.

And it wasn't just Real Madrid that suffered this fate; Barcelona, ​​their neighbor, was also held to a draw at home by Villarreal.

However, their score was slightly better, as both sides at least scored.

It is rare for two Spanish giants to both suffer defeats in the same round of matches.

So everyone is curious as to why Barcelona and Real Madrid, who were once unstoppable, suddenly faltered.
"With the World Cup approaching, players, especially the big stars, are filled with concerns, fearing that they might get injured during the games and miss the World Cup!"

"On the contrary, those players who play for ordinary teams will seize every opportunity to perform and try their best to prove themselves to the outside world in order to make it into the national team roster!"

Just when the fans were puzzled, a veteran in the industry stepped forward and answered everyone's questions.

Representing one's country in the World Cup is the goal of the vast majority of players.

Most of the star players who play for top clubs are also key players for their respective national teams.

They are not worried about making the national team roster; instead, they are worried about getting injured in the league, which could cause them to miss the opportunity to participate in the World Cup.

Players who play for ordinary teams have limited ability and cannot consistently receive national team call-ups like big-name stars, so they must impress the national team coach with their performance on the field.

This is why teams in the lower half of the rankings in major leagues have been performing poorly lately.

Recently, Real Madrid and Barcelona are not the only big clubs to have pulled off upsets against weaker teams. In the Premier League, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, and other teams have all suffered defeats in recent rounds.

Manchester United, in particular, lost 0-2 to Aston Villa and 0-3 to Fulham in just three rounds of matches.

Losing two games in a row has caused Manchester United to drop from the top of the standings to fourth place, making their previously promising title-winning prospects uncertain again.

……

The problem of players being afraid to play their hardest on the field is a major headache for all the top clubs.

Fortunately, there are only league and cup competitions at the moment; the Champions League knockout stage hasn't started yet.

If they continue in this state into the knockout stage, they might pull off an upset and lose to the runner-up from another group.

But for Real Madrid, who are competing on four fronts, this problem is more serious.

In addition to La Liga, cup competitions, and the Champions League, Real Madrid will also participate in the Club World Cup.

Although as the Champions League winners, they only need to participate in the semi-final and final matches.

However, the match was held in the UAE, which is very far from Spain.

Such a long journey, coupled with the different climates in the two places, will be a great test of the physical fitness and condition of Real Madrid players.

Mourinho is in a real bind. In this situation, he should have strategically given up on cup competitions or the Club World Cup.

But the club's management wanted to achieve a sextuple and didn't want to give up anything.

He could only rotate personnel as much as possible to put together two lineups to cope with the wear and tear of fighting on multiple fronts.

On January 6, Real Madrid, fresh from their league match, rushed back to their home ground to face their next Copa del Rey opponent – ​​Racing Santander.

Racing Santander is a La Liga team that finished 11th in the league last season, placing them in the mid-table.

For teams that are mid-table in the league, with little chance of participating in European competitions, let alone winning the league title, the Copa del Rey is their only chance to win a cup competition.

Cup competitions are highly unpredictable. Although the strong teams are stronger than them, they have to balance their league and European competitions, so it is difficult for them to field their full-strength lineup in cup competitions.

This gives ordinary teams a chance!
Mourinho had originally planned to field a rotation lineup mainly composed of substitute players for this match, but the opponent's tenacity exceeded his expectations.

After the first half, the two teams were tied. Racing Santander was not only behind in the score, but also did not suffer much in terms of the game.

With Real Madrid's squad depth, even if they fielded substitutes, they would still have a great chance of winning in the Copa del Rey as long as they didn't face Barcelona or the top teams in the league. But the butterfly effect of the World Cup couldn't be resisted!

Racing Santander, a mid-table team in the league, has a large number of players who are fringe members of their respective national teams. Like the Osasuna players in the previous match, these players seem to be on fire when facing Real Madrid, playing with incredible intensity.

At this point, the disadvantages of the elite teams become apparent.

Matches between ordinary teams have very low exposure and popularity, and will not receive much attention.

But for a top club like Real Madrid, with hundreds of millions of fans worldwide, every match they play attracts countless people's attention.

Therefore, when other teams face Real Madrid, their players are eager to go all out, showcasing all their skills and hoping to make a name for themselves with a single goal.

Poor Real Madrid, the world's top club, was reduced to a mere background figure.

This was intolerable. Seeing that he couldn't break the deadlock, Mourinho made two substitutions in the second half – Lin Feng and Raul came on!

Lin Feng was chosen to play because he was one of the few players in the previous round who did not avoid physical contact and were not afraid of the risk of injury.

Raul was fielded because he hadn't been called up to the Spanish national team for a long time, so he didn't need to worry about whether it would affect his participation in the World Cup, since he wouldn't be going anyway...

It must be said that Mourinho has a very keen eye for talent.

The two players brought about a huge change to Real Madrid's midfield and attack as soon as they came on.

The somewhat chaotic halftime situation immediately became orderly after Lin Feng's intervention.

The attacking line, which previously lacked variety and had a limited range of offensive tactics, became completely different after Raul came on.

After the two players came on, they took less than ten minutes to turn the score around.

Most importantly, inspired by the two players, the substitute players, who had previously performed only so-so, seemed to have found their backbone and started to perform better and better.

Especially Lin Feng's substitute, Modric!

When Mourinho brought on Lin Feng, he did not take him off.

It would have been difficult for Modric to control the midfield on his own, but after Lin Feng came on, a wonderful chemistry developed between them.

Lin Feng's counter-pressing, interceptions, and protection greatly relieved the pressure on his midfield teammates, freeing up Modric, who originally had to do these jobs, to devote more of his talent to the attack.

Modric's link-up play, passing, and forward runs provided Real Madrid with a constant stream of ammunition for their attack.

With the two working together, Real Madrid's attacks came in waves.

After winning the ball in the attacking third, Lin Feng would pass it directly to his teammates if he had the opportunity, and if not, he would pass it back to Modric, allowing him to reorganize the attack. Modric would either launch an attack by making long passes to find the weak side or make short passes to penetrate the defense and complete quick small-scale combinations with Lin Feng who had dropped back to receive the ball.

Regardless of the method, the fast-paced offense and defense transitions make it difficult for the defending side to defend against.

Racing Santander is, after all, just an ordinary team, and couldn't withstand the attacking and defensive pace of this Champions League level.

Soon after, Real Madrid scored their fourth and fifth goals.

After 90 minutes, the score was still 2-2 at halftime, but Real Madrid had extended their lead to 5-2!

Real Madrid killed the suspense of both legs of the match with just one game.

"Well played, Luca!"

After the match, Lin Feng gave high-fives to his teammates, including Raul and Modric.

When he gave Modric a high five, he smiled and complimented him.

"Thank you, Brother Lin!"

This was the first time Modric had heard Lin Feng praise him, and he was extremely excited.

Although he is older than Lin Feng, on the court, he is actually the junior.

Lin Feng was already a core player for Serie A giants Inter Milan in the 05-06 season, while Modric was still playing in the Croatian league, fighting for a starting position.

He didn't leave Croatia until 2008, when he transferred to one of the top five European leagues, and to a team like Tottenham Hotspur that wasn't exactly a powerhouse.

Compared to Lin Feng, who rose to fame at a young age and continued to improve, Modric can definitely be considered a late bloomer.

Seeing Modric acting like a junior and being so polite to him.

Lin Feng's expression was a bit strange, but he didn't correct the other person.

From his current perspective, 24-year-old Modric is still somewhat immature and far from reaching the level he would later achieve.

Modric still has a long way to go to develop into a world-class midfielder.

……

After a successful victory in the Copa del Rey, Real Madrid had no time to rest and immediately headed to the UAE to participate in the annual Club World Cup.

The Club World Cup was formerly known as the Toyota Cup because the tournament was sponsored by Toyota, a well-known Japanese automaker.

The Club World Cup was originally held only once, in 2001, and was subsequently discontinued for various reasons.

In 2005, the Club World Cup was revived with Japanese sponsorship, and the tournament was held in Japan for the next four years.

As a sponsor of the tournament, Toyota would gift the winning players of the Club World Cup a Toyota-made car, hence the nickname "Toyota Cup".

This year's Club World Cup marks the first time it has been held outside of Japan since its revival.

Fortunately, I didn't need to go to Japan to participate in the competition. The journey from Spain to Japan is more than 12000 kilometers, and the time spent on the plane alone exceeds 12 hours.

Compared to Japan, the UAE, located in the Middle East, is still quite far, but it is relatively close.

As the team with the most fame and the most star players in this Club World Cup, Real Madrid's appearance has sparked a football craze in the UAE.

The stadium was packed with fans who came to witness the prowess of this top European club.

Because they did not experience a historical slump, and won their tenth Champions League title early on, achieving a Champions League title defense that no other team could do, Real Madrid's popularity and fame worldwide far exceeded that of the same period in history.

In addition, this Galacticos team has two superstars, Lin Feng and Cristiano Ronaldo. Lin Feng is the best player in the world and just won his third Ballon d'Or. His high profile and huge influence have benefited the Real Madrid club and attracted countless fans for them.

It is said that some conglomerates in the UAE, after seeing this star-studded Galacticos team, have become interested in football and want to acquire a team in one of the top five European leagues for fun. (End of Chapter)