Chapter 125: Psychological Warfare and Counter-Psychological Warfare Against Japan
"Oh, I've finally got you here!"
Inside the national football team's training base, Zhu Guanghu's eyes lit up when he saw Lin Feng. He immediately walked up to him, grabbed his hands, and spoke excitedly.
"us?"
Lin Feng caught the other party's words and raised his eyebrows.
"Don't you know? Chen Tao, Feng Xiaoting and the others are all coming back, but they are farther away, maybe a few hours later than you, but Gao Lin, Zhao Xuri and the others have already arrived!"
As soon as Zhu Guanghu finished speaking, Lin Feng saw Gao Lin running out with a smile:
"I was wondering why there was a magpie calling in the tree so early in the morning. It turns out that you are back, Brother Lin!"
Gao Lin's voice was so loud that it alarmed other people in the team who were training.
"Brother Lin is here!"
"Is this true? I just watched Lin's Champions League match last night!"
"It's right at the door. You can tell by looking at it. How can I lie to you?"
In just a few moments, all the young players in the training base ran away.
Almost everyone ran to the door, wanting to catch a glimpse of the real face of the "big star" Lin Feng.
Most of the players called up for the East Asian Games are young players, and most of them have never been selected for the national team.
They both admire and envy Lin Feng, a "veteran" who studied abroad for a wealthy club and won championships for the national team.
In fact, most of the players present are older than Lin Feng.
But strength is respected on the court, and in terms of seniority, Lin Feng, as a main player in the national team, is much better than these young players who can't even reach the threshold of the national team.
Therefore, these people were very convinced in their hearts, and even naturally regarded Lin Feng as the leader. No one would challenge his authority at all.
"Brother Lin, let me help you with your luggage!"
"Brother Lin, let me get you some water. Do you want it iced or room temperature?!"
"Brother Lin, you must be tired. I'll make the bed for you!"
……
Looking at this group of young players who were surrounding him and trying to please him, Lin Feng felt very emotional:
So this is what it feels like to be the boss in a team?
This is too cool!
He began to like this feeling!
"Ahem, Lin Feng, go and have a rest first. I'll talk to you about tactics tomorrow."
Zhu Guanghu saw that Lin Feng looked tired and did not disturb him from resting.
Lin Feng also responded promptly and did not let down the good intentions of his coach and teammates.
When he arrived at the team lounge, his teammates had already made his bed.
Lin Feng didn't mind the poor conditions here and fell asleep immediately.
Although I took a short nap on the plane, the space was too narrow and I didn't sleep comfortably.
In addition, he had played a game last night and his body was weak. Lin Feng slept for more than ten hours and did not wake up until noon the next day.
It was already noon on the 4th, and there was only one day left until the competition.
After quickly washing up and having lunch in the restaurant, Lin Feng returned to the training ground.
"Hey, are you awake?"
As soon as he arrived at the training ground, Lin Feng saw Chen Tao.
"Huh? When did you arrive?"
Lin Feng was a little surprised and a little surprised.
"I arrived an hour later than you, and I saw you were sleeping, so I didn't disturb you!"
Lin Feng nodded, but felt a little strange.
He remembered that Werder Bremen also had a Champions League match yesterday, and it was a life-and-death battle.
I played a game in the Champions League and then traveled for more than ten hours to get back home. I felt so exhausted.
Why can't I see this kind of tiredness on Chen Tao? Could it be that this guy's physical fitness is better than mine?
"Haha, I only played half a game yesterday, so I consumed less energy than you!"
As if seeing Lin Feng's confusion, Chen Tao began to explain.
"From what you said, I guess you won, and it was an easy win?"
Lin Feng left in a hurry yesterday and had no time to check the situation of other games.
But Chen Tao, as the main midfielder of Werder Bremen, was substituted after playing only half the game. This was most likely because Werder Bremen had gained a huge advantage on the field.
Coach Schaff knew that he was going back to his country to participate in the competition, so he took special care of him and replaced him in advance.
"Half and half!"
When Chen Tao heard Lin Feng's question, his expression became complicated:
"We had a big advantage in the first half, with Klose scoring twice and Miku also scoring one, and we took a 3-goal lead early on.
It was precisely because the team had such a huge advantage that Coach Scharf replaced me early.
But after coach Schaff replaced me, Udinese launched a crazy counterattack in the second half, evened the score at one point, and almost defeated us. If it weren't for Klose's hat trick at the last moment to save the team, we might have said goodbye to the Champions League! ”
Although two days have passed, Chen Tao still feels a lingering fear when he thinks back on it now.
No wonder Milan players’ mentality exploded during the night in Istanbul.
Even if he was not on the court, just sitting on the bench and seeing the opponent equalize the score one goal at a time, he felt impatient and fearful in his heart.
If we go into the penalty shootout with this mentality, there's no chance we'll win.
"Haha, just listening to what you said made me sweat for you, but you won after all. Now your chances of qualifying from the group are much greater!"
Chen Tao shook his head. "I'm not that optimistic. Our next game is against Barcelona, and we're going to play away. We're definitely going to lose this game. We only have a theoretical hope of qualifying from the group."
The situation in Group C is more complicated. Barcelona is the only dominant team and has secured a qualifying spot early on.
Udinese and Werder Bremen have similar strengths and were originally the teams most likely to compete for the last qualifying spot.
But no one expected that Panathinaikos, which was underestimated by everyone before the game, turned out to be a dark horse.
They first defeated Werder Bremen, and then unexpectedly drew with Barcelona.
As a result, after four rounds, three teams in Group C had the same points.
But judging from the schedule, both rounds of the match between Panathinaikos and Barcelona have been completed.
The opponents in the remaining two games are not as strong as Barcelona, so they have a greater chance of winning and theoretically can get 6 points. At worst, if they play more conservatively and draw two games in a row, they can still qualify.
Udinese and Werder Bremen have two remaining games, one of which is against the powerful Barcelona.
Given the strength of these two teams, unless Barcelona takes the initiative to let go, they have no chance of winning.
Therefore, they can only get 3 points at most, and if they fail to win the match against Panathinaikos, they will not be able to qualify.
So what Chen Tao said is not wrong. Werder Bremen now only has a theoretical chance of qualifying.
But it is very difficult to achieve this possibility, after all, the initiative to qualify is not in their hands.
"Old Chen, you guys still have a little hope, but I really don't have any hope at all!"
Zhao Xuri appeared out of nowhere and sighed quietly:
"We lost again in a weak match against Brugge yesterday. Now we have lost four games in a row and have not got a single point. What the hell is this!"
Lin Feng patted his shoulder sympathetically and comforted him:
"Look at the bright side. At least if we are eliminated in the group stage, we won't be beaten badly by other teams in the knockout stage."
Zhao Xuri: “…”
……
The number of players returning from Europe to participate in the competition was more than Lin Feng had imagined.
In addition to him, Chen Tao, Feng Xiaoting, Gao Lin and Zhao Xuri, Schalke 04's Hao Junmin, Fenerbahce's Mao Biao and others have also returned.
Seeing these familiar faces appear one after another, Lin Feng felt both touched and annoyed.
I was touched that these guys really treated me as a brother. They didn't have to come back, but they chose to torture themselves and come back to suffer with me. I was annoyed that these guys did this, which completely wasted all my previous efforts!
They have finally managed to get some opportunities in the team, but now if they ask for leave to return home, their position in the club may be lost again.
Forget it, everyone is back, what’s the point of talking about this now?
It’s better to think about how to play the upcoming semi-finals and knockout rounds!
Zhu Guanghu, who was instructing the players in training, saw Lin Feng and the others coming, so he immediately stopped the players' training and gathered everyone together:
"Our next opponent is the Japanese team!"
As soon as Zhu Guanghu said this, everyone perked up.
Meeting the Japanese team in an international competition is the most exciting thing for Chinese people, especially when there is no Japanophobia in the team.
When we meet the Japanese team, there is no need for the team and the coach to conduct a pre-war mobilization. Everyone will give 100% of their fighting spirit and condition.
We can be perfunctory in other games, but we must fight hard in the game against the Japanese team!
"Like us, the Japanese team is mainly sending young players this time. The main lineup is the group that participated in the World Youth Championship. Their core player is Keisuke Honda..."
Zhu Guanghu quickly introduced the situation of the Japanese team.
Like the Chinese national football team, the Japanese team in this East Asian Games is also mainly composed of young players.
The level of the East Asian Games is lower than that of the East Asian Cup. This kind of competition is not even considered an international A-level competition. It is normal that traditional strong teams do not take it seriously.
If the Japanese team did not want to save face and regain ground against the host Chinese team, they would even have planned to send a group of college students to participate in the competition.
"Don't underestimate the Japanese team. They are very strong. They defeated South Korea in the group stage and won first place in the group. Honda Keisuke is also in great form. He scored 5 goals in three group matches and is currently the top scorer in the East Asian Games!"
Unlike Group B where the Chinese team is located, Group A where the Japanese team is located has only three teams, namely Japan, South Korea and Chinese Taiwan.
Honda Keisuke's performance was outstanding, as he was able to score five goals in two games, against a traditional strong team like South Korea.
There are only three main favorites to win this East Asian Games: host China, Japan and South Korea.
Although the North Korean team beat the Chinese team in the group stage, their overall strength is not strong and they do not have the ability to win the championship.
On the contrary, the Japanese and Korean teams, perhaps because they lost so badly in the East Asian Cup four months ago, both countries sent their U4 players to participate in the competition this time. There are even some U20 players among them. Their overall strength should not be underestimated.
Lin Feng naturally would not underestimate his opponents. In fact, the reason why the Chinese national football team was completely left behind by the Japanese and Korean teams was within this one or two generations of players.
Among these young players from Japan and South Korea, many will grow into stars at the Asian level or even the top five leagues level in the future. In contrast, the Chinese national football team has remained stagnant or even regressed.
"Coach, just tell me what we should do to those who are small, small... people who have a good life!"
Just as Zhao Xuri was about to swear, he saw reporters pointing cameras at them outside the training base.
Fortunately, this kid is smart, otherwise if this was leaked by reporters, it might become a diplomatic incident.
The team members were all very surprised. They had never seen so many reporters when they were training a few days ago. How come so many people came all of a sudden?
"The Japanese team's attack was very sharp, so in the next game we will..."
……
The Japanese portrayed this match as a revenge match for the Japanese team. Before the match, Tokyo TV specially sent someone to interview the captain of the Japanese team, Keisuke Honda, and asked him about his opinion on the match:
"Lin is very strong, but I want to prove through the game that I am the strongest Asian player!"
Keisuke Honda seemed to have forgotten the advice of his national team predecessors, and spoke nonsense to reporters, and even directly challenged Lin Feng.
Although other members of the Japanese team were not as arrogant as Honda Keisuke, they all expressed confidence in winning the game.
"The only strong player on the Chinese team is Lin Feng. As long as we can limit him, we can easily win this game!"
In the eyes of the Japanese team, the Chinese team without Lin Feng could not even lose to the North Korean team, so how could they be their opponent?
Football is not table tennis or badminton, it is a team game!
No matter how strong Lin Feng is, he can't fight against their entire team!
The Japanese report caused an uproar in the country.
Domestic fans think that the Japanese team is too arrogant!
"Haha, Honda Keisuke? What a shitty name, I've never heard of it. Is he worthy enough to challenge Lin Feng?"
"These days, anyone can dare to come out!"
"If the Japanese team is really that good, why are we the champions of the World Youth Championship and not them?"
The Chinese national football team's record is not as good as that of the Japanese team, which is something that domestic fans basically do not deny.
But when it comes to the youth teams, especially the U20 youth team, domestic fans don't think highly of the Japanese team.
After all, the National Youth Team just won the World Youth Championship, which represents the highest honor for a youth team!
What championship are you, Japan? How dare you come and try to cheat me?
"Brothers, don't be fooled by the Japanese. The Japanese are playing psychological warfare with us!"
"That's right. Their purpose is to irritate us and make us play more aggressively. At the same time, it also irritates Lin Feng and makes him too obsessed with his personal performance on the court and ignore the team's cooperation!"
"Damn, you have such a dirty heart. The Japanese really can't afford to play with you!"
A reporter came to interview Lin Feng with Honda Keisuke's statement in the interview. After hearing the reporter's question, Lin Feng asked blankly:
"Who is Keisuke Honda?"
After Lin Feng's interview was broadcast, the fans were amused:
"The King's Contempt from Lin Feng!"
"Haha, Honda Keisuke jumped so high, but Lin Feng didn't even know who he was. How sad!"
"He deserves it. How could he, a small player in the J-League, possibly catch the eye of Lin Feng? Lin Huang's opponents are at the level of Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi and Kaka. Honda Keisuke is nothing!"
After Lin Feng's interview video was transmitted to the Japanese team, Honda Keisuke was immediately defeated.
The reason why he made such harsh remarks before the game was to attract the attention of the outside world and to elevate himself to the same level as Lin Feng.
But in the end, Lin Feng's casual words shattered all his efforts.
……
"CCTV, CCTV!"
"We are broadcasting live the semi-final match between China and Japan in the men's football of the 4th East Asian Games..."
Inside the CCTV studio, commentators Huang Jianxiang and Zhang Lu were introducing the starting rosters of the two teams in this match to the audience.
Seeing the Chinese team's starting lineup, both of them were very excited:
"I believe that many fans are like me. Before the game, they were curious whether Lin Feng would play. According to the information we have received now, Lin Feng is on the starting list of the Chinese team!"
Before Lin Feng and the group of players who studied abroad in Europe came back, this East Asian Games actually did not receive much attention in China.
On the one hand, because the venue is in Macau, it is not convenient to watch the game in person.
On the other hand, whether it is China, Japan or South Korea, everyone's lineup is full of young players.
Although these players are all talented and gifted, their reputation is really too low.
Unless they are hardcore fans who pay special attention to the youth training of the three countries, most other people have never heard of their names.
But Lin Feng is different!
As a prominent figure in Chinese football overseas and a rising star of Chinese football, Lin Feng is very well-known in China.
When fans learned that Lin Feng was going to participate in the East Asian Games, they rushed to tell others, and word spread quickly, and soon the East Asian Games became very popular.
Coupled with the hype from the media of both countries before the game, the enthusiasm of domestic fans was further ignited.
"Come on Team China!"
"Smash the Japanese team!"
"Beat Honda Keisuke till he cries!"
With Lin Feng participating in the competition, fans are very relieved about the outcome of this game!
In their opinion, Lin Feng was able to lead the adult national team to defeat the Japanese team, so shouldn't he be able to easily win in the U20 competition?
"Haha, what's the point of using the big to bully the small? The Japanese team sent a group of young soldiers!"
There are always people jumping out to sing a different tune. When the Chinese national football fans were cheering for the national team online, some traitors couldn't wait to jump out.
"Bullshit, the Japanese team is a youth team, aren't we?"
"We didn't call in any veterans. We are all young men in their early 20s. Lin Feng isn't even 18 yet. The Japanese team is a youth army, so we can almost be called boy scouts!"
The clown argued, "How can that be the same? Lin Feng is a starter in one of the top five leagues, yet he actually comes to participate in this youth level competition. How shameless!"
"Haha, Lin Feng can be a starter in the top five leagues because of his ability. You Japanese have no ability, but you blame others!"
With the absolute numerical advantage, the few traitors who jumped out to sing a different tune were soon speechless, and they just kept insisting that the Chinese team was absolutely no match for the Japanese team.
"Then let the result of this game slap you traitors in the face!"
The verbal fight outside the court did not affect Lin Feng's mentality. In fact, he knew who Honda Keisuke was, but he just said that on purpose.
The Japanese team wanted to play psychological warfare, so Lin Feng naturally had to play along with them.
In the player tunnel, seeing Keisuke Honda staring at him with a gloomy face and angry expression, Lin Feng knew that his psychological tactics worked!
This kid will definitely find ways to prove himself in this game!
As long as he falls into this state, the Japanese team will have no chance of winning.
As the Japanese say, football is a team sport!
(End of this chapter)
