Football: I am only 16 years old, and you want me to retire and make a comeback?

Chapter 806 Why Did Chinese Fans Sing the National Anthem So Loudly?
Changsha, Hunan.

The legendary holy land of "stir-fried pork with chili peppers and noodles" is also the place where the Chinese national football team played against the Japanese team.

This is clearly a good opportunity for Changsha's cultural and tourism industry to promote the city by leveraging the expertise of the Chinese national team.

Some might ask, what if the Chinese national football team loses? What if they lose to Japan? Wouldn't that cause a huge publicity stunt?

this……

To be honest, anything that brings benefits always comes with some risk.

When the benefits are large enough, the price you have to pay will also be large.

At this point, we must consider this carefully.

Ok……

We're betting that the Chinese national football team can beat Japan!

We still have to believe in GGBond!

……

Repost: Chinese national football team releases training video in preparation for match against Japan: Ready for battle!

Some fans were worried that the Chinese national team might go all out against Japan, given that group rankings and seeding status were irrelevant.

But now it seems that this worry was actually unnecessary.

The Chinese team attached great importance to this match against Japan; they even arrived at their hotel in Changsha two days in advance.

Doesn't this mean we should go all out to fight?

Steady!

"We can play a little more conservatively in the game the day after tomorrow."

In the hotel conference room, Escriva was emphasizing something to the players: "Whether we finish first or second in the group, it's a low probability event for us to be seeded, so there's no need to go all out on the match day the day after tomorrow."

Eskreva is not Ten Hag, and he doesn't care about winning streaks or momentum.

Ferran prefers a more conservative approach.

"If we beat Japan, our FIFA ranking might surpass theirs."

Tang Ye reminded him.

Wu Lei also chimed in.

It's clear they both won quite well.

"I know, of course I know."

Eskeriva quickly reassured the players: "I checked before, and we're not far behind Japan in the rankings. If we win the next two games, we'll probably surpass Japan in the rankings."

"Then why bother playing it safe? Why not just go straight for them?"

Tang Ye added.

"What I mean is that seeded teams and unseeded teams don't really make much difference to us; we will face very strong opponents."

This……

Ok.

As a coach, Eskreva certainly considers more things than the players.

Even if you are the first Asian team to participate in the World Cup group stage draw, you still won't get the "top seed" status. The "top seed" is reserved for teams from Europe, South America, and Africa. Apart from Qatar, who is the host country and is the "top seed", other Asian teams can only dream of getting the "top seed".

Aside from the top seed, the second and third seeds aren't very useful, since you can't avoid the top 10 teams in the FIFA rankings.

"So our goal is a draw, a draw against Japan at home, that would be enough. I know you might think you have the ability to win, but you also need to know that I now understand the overall strength of the Japanese team very well. Um... what I mean is, we just need a draw, we don't need to take the risk of losing."

Eskeriva subconsciously felt that beating the current Japanese team would be too difficult for the Chinese national team.

The meeting ended, and the players slowly left the room.

"Actually, I don't think it's necessary."

Wu Lei said.

In the last match against Saudi Arabia, this Chinese national team striker displayed his confidence, which has led to his current disapproval of Eskeriva's decisions.

Even if we lose, the World Cup ticket we've already secured won't disappear, so why not give it a shot?

"He's probably afraid that if we lose to Japan, we'll lose our confidence."

Tang Ye shook his head slightly: "Actually, I also really want to give it my all, but Japan is really strong. Saudi Arabia and Japan are much stronger this year than last year. I feel that last year they just didn't work out well together."

"What do you say?"

"There's no other way, let's just play according to the plan for now. The situation may change later, and we can adjust accordingly."

……

Helong Sports Center.

"xuuu!!"

The Japanese team's bus had just arrived when it was immediately greeted by the home team's fans.

The match between the first and second place teams in the group is no different from a national derby or regional derby; both sets of fans are extremely excited.

The curtains on the bus were, of course, not drawn, and it's hard to imagine what the Japanese players inside were thinking.

Are they nervous? What is their attitude towards today's game?
Click, click, click!

"Hello, Mori-san, this is Kazuhito Ueno from Nikkan Sports. Regarding the recent 'wave of reflection' among Japanese fans, Mori-san, what do you have to say, or what do you think its significance is?"

"Um……"

Moriyasu's expression was somewhat strange, an indescribable feeling, it was hard to tell whether it was helplessness or anger.

"Of course we need to reflect when we fall behind, and from that perspective, I think the fans' actions were correct. But if we think about it carefully, I think this reflection is actually not quite right."

"The gap between Japan and China is not mainly reflected in the overall team, but in individual players. Take Wu Lei and Zhang Yuning for example, Japan can produce players who are equal to or even better than them."

"So the main problem is still Tang Ye."

Moriyasu nodded slightly: "So I think the main thing fans should reflect on is not our current tactics and overall performance, but rather we need to start from the root, which is actually a problem with youth training. We don't have the environment to cultivate players like Tang Ye, and that's something we should reflect on."

Click, click, click!

Hajime Moriyasu's words made a lot of sense and directly changed the minds of many fans watching the live broadcast.

The gap between national teams is fundamentally a gap in youth training.

Japan has lacked the conditions to cultivate players like Tang Ye since 1999. 23 years later, a boomerang came flying back and hit the Japanese national team right in the neck.

"So how do you think we should adjust our youth training system? Which other country should we learn from in terms of youth training? The Netherlands, or China?"

"This one……"

Moriyasu tilted his head slightly upwards.

Learn from England's youth training system?

No, England doesn't have any players worth 3 million euros right now.

Should we learn from La Masia in Spain?
Of course, that won't work either, as La Masia doesn't have any players worth 3 million euros.

So what to do?

The most absurd thing about this issue is that even if you learn from the national team where Tang Ye plays, or from China itself, it still won't work.

After all that, China still doesn't know how Tang Ye came to be.

"Well... I don't know yet. This is something that needs to be considered in the long term."

……

"China Media Group, China Media Group!"

"This is a live broadcast for you..."

"Both teams' players are already in the players' tunnel and ready!"

With less than 10 minutes left before the match was about to begin, both teams' players were already standing in the tunnel.

In the scene, Hiroki Sakai takes the initiative to come over and greet Tang Ye.

Hiroki Sakai shook hands and bowed, which startled Tang Ye, who immediately returned the bow.

"Tang-san, I want to apologize to you on behalf of Osako..."

"Sakai Hiroki said, quickly turning his head to look at Osako Yuya, who was standing at the very back of the line."

Yuichiro Osako didn't dare to approach Tang Ye directly because he had offended the Chinese team captain during the previous match in Saitama.

What's frustrating is that Tang Ye didn't accept his apology during the match that day, leaving Osako Yuya at a loss for what to do.

"Oh, this..."

Tang Ye took a deep breath: "Let's talk about it after the game is over."

"Okay, thank you!"

Hiroki Sakai bowed to Tang Ye again.

Although he thanked him, Hiroki Sakai knew in reality that the matter had not been resolved.

Tang Ye's attitude clearly indicates that he wants Osako Yuya to come and apologize in person.

Turning his head to look at Yuya Osako at the very back, Hiroki Sakai helplessly shrugged.

Brother, I've already tried to help you, but he won't agree. You'll have to do it yourself!

"Beep!!!"

"..."

"Wow!!!!"

Go China!

"Holy crap, Tang the King of Balls! You need to score at least 10 goals against them today, or I'll consider you a hater from now on!"

"We have to win! Don't be a coward! We need to be number one in our group! We absolutely have to be number one in our group!"

A draw is fine, just don't lose!

The fans at the scene were very enthusiastic.

Everyone wants to win and expressed their hope that the Chinese national football team will defeat Japan at home in Changsha.

What the fans didn't know was that Escriva had already given the players their tasks for today's match.

Tang Ye was also helpless, unable to directly respond to the fans' demands, and could only keep waving.

"..."

The away team, Japan, has finished their national anthem; now it's China's turn.

"Now, let's play the national anthem of the People's Republic of China:..."

Wow!!!

The fans all stood up.

Today, Chinese football fans have two things they are most looking forward to. One of them is to defeat Japan and secure first place in Group B.

The second thing was to sing the national anthem.

"Come on, brothers!"

"Oh! Haha!"

"Ta-da! Ta ...

"Ta-da! Ta-da!"

"stand up!!!"

"Yeties who refuse to be slaves!!!"

"Let our flesh and blood build our new Great Wall!!!!!"

"..."

Although they didn't say anything, you could tell from the Japanese players' facial expressions that they were a bit confused.

Having faced so many opponents and played so many away games, China has always been the one singing the national anthem the loudest.

Today's incident was the most outrageous of them all.

I've seen people shout while singing the national anthem, but I've never seen anyone shout every single line.

"We are united as one!! Braving the enemy's gunfire!!!"

"go ahead!!"

"go ahead!!!"

"Forward! Forward!!!!!"

hiss……

It's a bit scary indeed.

The Japanese players on the field now have a feeling that the Chinese fans are singing the national anthem to all 11 of them, as if they're trying to scare all the Japanese players to death.

My Chinese friends, you must stay calm.

It's just a game of football, there's no need to be so aggressive!
Tang Ye put one hand on Wu Lei's shoulder and whispered to Wu Lei and Zhang Yuning, "Be steady for now, and we'll see how things go later."

……

"Beep!!!"

“The game begins!”

"Now I will introduce the starting lineups for both sides!"

"..."

Japan (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Shuichi Gonda
Defenders: Hiroshi Sakai, Ko Itakura, Shogo Taniguchi, Yuto Nagatomo

Midfielders: Hidemasa Morita, Aoi Tanaka, Wataru Endo
Forwards: Junya Ito, Yuya Osako, Takumi Minamino

Head Coach: Hajime Moriyasu
Compared to their first encounter, Japan made significant changes to their starting lineup today.

The main issue is the center-backs. Moriyasu replaced both center-backs, I wonder if it was a special design for today's game.

"Eh!"

"Here it comes, on the left flank! Minamino Takumi is starting to apply pressure!"

The Chinese team chose to control the ball immediately after the kickoff, while the Japanese team launched an attack on the Chinese team as soon as they gained possession.

Minamino Takumi made a sudden run down the flank and successfully avoided Zhang Xizhe!
"Oh!!!"

They quickly moved towards Zhang Linpeng from the front.

Japan was putting a lot of pressure on Zhang Linpeng, who quickly became serious and prepared to take some countermeasures.

However, Takumi Minamino did not force his way down the wing, but instead passed the ball to Wataru Endo behind him after reaching a suitable position.

Tang Ye ran quickly toward Endo Wataru.

The two leaned against each other.

Tang Ye seized the opportunity!

Stretch your leg!

Unfortunately, this was a feint by Wataru Endo!

Although he managed to fool Tang Ye immediately, Endo Wataru did not let his guard down. He made a long pass and successfully found Sakai Hiroki who was coming from the right flank.

Hiroki Sakai then passes the ball to Junya Ito.

At this point, Japan's offensive could be considered to have truly begun.

Junya Ito will face off against Shenchao Wang.

Junya Ito maintained a good distance, which prevented Wang Shenchao from extending his foot and forced him to keep retreating.

Snapped!
Look for Yuya Osako in the inverted triangle formation!

Yuya Osako made a step back.

Let's make some more adjustments.

Snapped!
Gently push the ball to Tanaka Ao, who runs up from the side.

!!!

boom!
Jiang Guangtai fell to the ground to block, but was fooled by Tanaka Aoi's feint.

Oops!

boom!
Tanaka Ao's shot hit Yan Junling directly.

"Oh!"

A little scary!

Although they didn't score immediately, the danger for the Chinese team was not completely over.

At the landing point, Feng Xiaoting and Minamino Takumi prepared to fight for it.

Jump up!
boom!
Feng Xiaoting passed the ball to Zhang Xizhe, who quickly looked for Tang Ye.

"coming!"

"Give possession to Tang Ye!"

"Excellent! Zhang Xizhe's choice is absolutely correct!"

Once he got the ball, Tang Ye immediately started making his moves. First, he quickly got rid of Mamoru Hidemasa next to him, and then he started looking for his teammates.

With no suitable players nearby to support him, Tang Ye gritted his teeth and risked sending a through ball directly to Wei Shihao, who was leading the attack.

It worked!
After completing the pass, Tang Ye was pulled down by Morita Hidemasa.

"Perfect through ball!"

"The referee signals that the attack is in the favor! Wei Shihao should be pushing forward after receiving the ball, but Zhang Yuning's position is not very good!"

……

PS: There will be more in the evening.

(End of this chapter)