Chapter 211 The Chinese national football team’s World Cup!
"Come on, with our level, it's doubtful whether we can even play in the top five leagues, let alone play in the Champions League final?"
"Yes, we are family and we know our own business. Brother Lin, please stop giving us chicken soup!"
"Compared to the unattainable dream of the Champions League, I now want to know where I can play football next season. If there are no games to play like this, I may have to return home!"
Zhou Haibin's words made everyone silent. Among those present, few did well after studying abroad, and most did not.
And the one who is doing the worst is probably Zhou Haibin!
His number of appearances for Eindhoven is pitifully few, even compared to other players in the national youth team.
Cui Peng played at least 10 games for Marseille. Although he was not a starter in any of them, he had a chance to play almost every three games.
After Zhao Xuri was loaned out, he made even more appearances for the Vienna team. This season, he played 25 games for Rapid Vienna, including 5 starts.
With his current performance, even if he cannot get a work permit and cannot return to Manchester City to play, he will not have to worry about his next club. At least in the Austrian Super League, there is a team willing to use him.
But Zhou Haibin has only played a pitiful 5 games for Eindhoven. Perhaps the coach has almost forgotten that there is such a player in his team?
Among the people present, Zhao Xuri, the only one with rental experience, spoke up:
"Brother Haibin, why don't you choose to play on loan like me? PSV Eindhoven is a giant in the Eredivisie. The competition in such a team will definitely be fierce. If you play in the second-level league, maybe you will have more opportunities to play!"
Lin Feng also supported Zhao Xuri's proposal:
"What Zhao Ritian said is right. Although the Eredivisie is not one of the top five leagues, its competitiveness is not much different from that of Ligue 1. Even if PSV Eindhoven is not as good as Lyon, it will not be too far behind. Playing for such a top club, let alone you, other young players, unless they are talented players that can be seen with the naked eye, will not have many opportunities. Renting or transferring out is a better choice!"
Although joining a top team is a very prestigious thing, you can't ignore the substance for the sake of face!
When it comes to playing football, one must rely on games to accumulate experience and improve skills.
Staying on the bench and watching the water dispenser all the time will not only prevent you from growing, but it may even cause your skills and condition to decline due to long periods of time without games.
Once you miss the most critical period of growth for players under 23 years old, it will be impossible to make up for it later!
After hearing everyone's suggestions, Zhou Haibin thought seriously for a while before nodding:
"Okay, I'll listen to you all. I'll trouble you all to help me figure out where to transfer or loan him out. Don't worry, I won't be using you in vain. I'll treat you all to dinner tonight!"
When they heard Zhou Haibin say he would treat them to a meal, everyone cheered.
"Brother Zhou, I think the Austrian Super League is pretty good. The competition here is less than in the top five leagues, but the level is really not weak. Every year, a large number of players are spotted by Bundesliga teams and poached to play in the Bundesliga. I think if you can gain a foothold in the Austrian Super League, it won't be difficult to enter the top five leagues in the future!"
Zhao Xuri immediately introduced to Zhou Haibin the league he was currently playing in - the Austrian Super League.
The Austrian Super League ranks around 15th in Europe.
This ranking is actually very low. For Zhao Xuri, it is not an exaggeration to say that Zhou Haibin will be able to play in the Austrian Super League if he joins the Austrian Super League.
With his strength, it will be no problem for him to gain a foothold in the Austrian Super League!
Zhou Haibin was somewhat tempted, but he made a decision immediately and looked at Lin Feng with a pleading look.
Lin Feng also felt that the level of the Austrian Super League was a bit low: "In fact, the Turkish Super League, Russian Super League, and Portuguese Super League are all worth considering. The strength of these leagues is stronger than the Austrian Super League, and the salary and benefits are also better.
Even the Eredivisie itself can be considered, as long as you don't join a top club. Of course, if you want to be a starter, then the secondary leagues such as the German 20nd and Spanish 30nd divisions will be more stable, and the salary is not particularly low. The main players can get an annual salary of to euros, which is not much lower than your salary as a substitute in a top club."
After hearing what Lin Feng said, several other people who had similar ideas also became interested.
I had no idea that the world outside was so big before, I just wanted to make it in my current club.
But now it seems that if I continue like this, it is hard to say whether I can make it through, but the probability is that I will ruin myself.
So they all spoke up and asked Lin Feng for advice, wanting to determine which league was suitable for them to play in.
Long before coming here, Lin Feng had already done a lot of research on the individual characteristics of each player and the different styles of the major European leagues.
So at this time it was easy to determine the league that was suitable for each of them.
"Hao Junmin, the Bundesliga is suitable for you, but you can't play in the Bundesliga now, so it would be better to transfer or loan to the Bundesliga next season!"
"Gao Lin, stop messing around. You've been doing very well in Dortmund. You've done a good job in passing the ball and assisting the team. Next season, you just need to work harder on your shooting and improve your scoring ability. Then it won't be a problem for you to become a starter in Dortmund!"
"Zhu Ting, you need to change teams. You have good wing attacking ability. You should find a team that pays more attention to wing attacking. That way, you will have more opportunities!"
……
Lin Feng's words benefited everyone a lot. After listening to Lin Feng's analysis, many people decided to take action this summer.
People move to live, trees move to die.
It's not a good idea to always stay on the bench in the current team. I have to find a way out for myself.
Although most of the players were unsuccessful in studying abroad, among this group of players, there are relatively successful players like Lin Feng, Chen Tao and Feng Xiaoting. For Chinese fans, this is already a pleasant surprise.
Before these people, even the famous players of the Chinese national football team rarely succeeded when studying abroad.
This group of young players can join top clubs and even win the Champions League with the team. This kind of thing has never happened before, let alone been imagined. What else is there to be dissatisfied about?
After Barcelona won the championship, major domestic media reported the event, and the pictures they chose were almost all the one of Feng Xiaoting holding up the Big Ear Cup.
I'm afraid Feng Xiaoting would also blush after finding out about this!
Seeing his teammates holding the trophy, he also happily held it and played with it for a while. He also asked his teammates to take a few photos of him, preparing to go back and show off to his former teammates in the national youth team.
Unexpectedly, he was put in the center position by the domestic media, which made Feng Xiaoting sweat profusely!
How come it seems like I am a major contributor to Barcelona's championship?
At best, I am just a handyman. The real contributors to the championship are Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Deco and others!
But the media reporters don’t care about that. Not to mention that you played for Barcelona in the final, even if you sat on the bench the whole time, they would find all kinds of angles to praise you!
It's not just the Chinese media that are praising it, the Japanese and Korean media next door are also very critical.
When it comes to studying abroad, Japan and South Korea are definitely ahead of China.
There was no one who could have won the Champions League with the team. Especially the Korean media, they were so jealous:
"The Chinese are just a little luckier. In last year's Champions League semi-finals, Park Ji-sung was the main player for PSV Eindhoven. If they hadn't been unlucky and tied 3:3 with AC Milan but were eliminated due to the disadvantage of away goals, perhaps Park Ji-sung would have become the first Asian player in history to lead a team to win the Champions League.
Given his performance in the team and his status as a key player, if he gets this honor, it will definitely be more valuable than the honor that the Chinese get by cheating on him! "
Park Ji-sung is a football star who has risen rapidly in South Korea in recent years.
His rise, in addition to his own strength, is also inseparable from external opportunities.
During the 02 World Cup, the coach of the South Korean team was the famous European coach Guus Hiddink. After Hiddink returned to coach PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Eredivisie, he remembered his former disciple and recruited him to PSV Eindhoven.
Park Ji-sung showed some discomfort in the early days of his move to Eindhoven. If it weren't for Hiddink's trust, he would probably have been completely abandoned.
But Park Ji-sung himself also worked hard enough. With the help of Hiddink and his own efforts, he quickly adapted to the rhythm of the Eredivisie games and became a regular starter for PSV Eindhoven in the 03-04 season.
In the 04-05 season, he became one of the core midfielders of PSV Eindhoven, and even scored a crucial goal in the semi-final against AC Milan.
Although this goal did not help the team escape elimination, it made him famous and he was subsequently recruited to Old Trafford by Manchester United last summer.
The Korean media were right in praising Park Ji-sung. The first Asian player in history to win the Champions League with a team was Park Sam-fei. Ahem, another Asian player who won the Champions League at the same time as him was Dong Fangzhuo, but the King's Dong won purely by luck, there is no comparison.
But now that Feng Xiaoting has taken the lead, no matter how unwilling the Koreans are, they cannot change the result.
……
After watching the Champions League final, Lin Feng planned to take advantage of the holiday to rest for a while, and even booked a flight to Malta, ready to relax on the sunny beaches of Malta.
However, before he could leave, he received a call from the national team coach Zhu Guanghu:
"Xiao Lin, we have an international friendly match on the 26th. You should stay in shape and report to the national team on the 22nd. Then you can go directly to Germany!"
Lin Feng was a little confused. The friendly match was going to be held on the 26th. Who made the appointment for this time?
This year's World Cup opening match is on June 6, and the Chinese team's friendly matches will be arranged as close to the match day as possible.
For example, the French team has scheduled a friendly match with the Chinese team on June 6, just two days before the start of the World Cup.
For those teams that are going to participate in the competition, their main purpose is to meet up with one or two teams to test the team's tactical play and get a feel for the game before the World Cup starts.
There is still nearly half a month left before the opening of the World Cup on the 26th. If we schedule it so early, wouldn’t it be a waste of time if we play?
There has been no game for half a month, so this friendly match is almost worthless!
Forget it, never mind. It’s just a friendly match. There’s no need to worry about winning or losing.
Moreover, almost all the teams that come to arrange friendly matches at this time are those that are going to participate in the World Cup.
For the Chinese team, playing against such a strong team is a very good experience. It will help the players and fans of the national team to recognize the gap and know where they differ from the world's top teams!
However, the group had to gather on the 22nd, which shattered Lin Feng’s idea of a vacation.
Fortunately, the Chinese team does not have to play in the World Cup. They can play a few friendly matches before the opening game and enjoy the World Cup while on vacation.
Compared to those players who had to report back to their respective teams before they had much rest after playing in the World Cup, Lin Feng felt that he was still quite happy.
This is really outrageous. I didn't expect that the Chinese national football team's failure to qualify for the World Cup could bring such benefits to the players.
……
Although he complained, Lin Feng reported to the national football team's training base early in the morning on the 22nd.
It can be seen that Zhu Guanghu attaches great importance to these friendly matches.
For this national team training camp, the Chinese national football team recruited some main players and did not let them go at all just because it was a friendly match. They are truly the conscience of the sparring partners.
Zhu Guanghu may really want to test the quality of the Chinese national football team through real combat to see how far they are from qualifying for the World Cup.
Unfortunately, such a test is distorted.
Because among the four Asian teams participating in the World Cup this time, except for the South Korean team which ranked second from the bottom, the remaining three teams have not won a single game and are ranked last!
In this era, the whole of Asia is a football desert. Everyone is a bad chess player. Once you leave Asia, you will be defeated in international competitions.
Whether the Chinese national football team can make it to the World Cup depends mainly on its comparison with these weak teams in Asia, rather than with the strong teams in other continents.
With the strength of the Chinese national football team, the chances of winning against these teams that have fought out fierce competition from other continents are quite slim, and it is very likely that they will lose four games in a row!
But Zhu Guanghu doesn’t care, even if it’s four consecutive defeats, it’s worth it!
After all, with the strength of the Chinese national football team, even if it participates in the World Cup, it can only play three group matches. Do you still expect the national football team to advance to the knockout stage?
Although this is a friendly match, we have four opponents, including former World Cup champions such as France and Brazil.
The value of this friendly match is even higher than that of an ordinary World Cup group match!
So for the Chinese team, this is their World Cup.
"I have found out that these four teams are Ecuador, Switzerland, Brazil and France. To be honest, their strength is much stronger than the group of the Chinese national football team in the 02 World Cup!"
"Haha, how can the Chinese national football team be so blessed to have two World Cup champions serving them? They are really blessed!"
"Although we can't make it to the World Cup, this is our World Cup. My goal remains the same. If I can score a goal and get a point, it will be a success!"
"There's no chance of winning the two games against Brazil and France. It all depends on whether we can score goals and get points against Switzerland and Ecuador!"
"Is there anyone who knows who Ecuador is? It sounds like an unknown small country. I wonder how good their football skills are?"
"Like us, Ecuador also participated in the World Cup for the first time in 2002, but they fought their way out of the fiercely competitive South America, and their strength is definitely stronger than that of the Chinese national team. Look, the Chinese national team failed to make it to this year's World Cup, but Ecuador did. You know, they squeezed out traditional powerhouses like Uruguay and Colombia!"
"It turns out that the Chinese national football team can't win any game. This time, I really have to accompany the prince to study!"
(End of this chapter)
