Chapter 85: The latest national team roster, CCTV interview
On August 8, just two days before Inter Milan was about to face Shakhtar Donetsk, the Chinese Football Association announced the national football team's roster for the 23 East Asian Games.
Compared with the East Asian Cup a month ago, the roster announced by the Chinese national football team this time has undergone major adjustments in terms of personnel.
In addition to a few players such as Zou Jie, Cao Yang, Du Zhenyu, etc., they were called up to the national team.
The rest are basically young players born after 1985, mainly the 85 national youth team that participated in this year's World Youth Championship.
The release of this list naturally made the outside world think of the Olympic Games to be held in the country three years later.
In order to prevent the Olympics from threatening the status of the World Cup, FIFA has imposed strict age restrictions on players participating in the Olympics.
According to FIFA regulations, players participating in the Olympics must not be older than 23 years old.
This age basically excludes most of the famous stars in the football world.
Influenced by this, teams from various countries participating in the Olympics will basically form a special Olympic team in addition to the national team.
The National Olympic Team mainly recruits young players under the age of 23.
Although Chinese football has not participated in the Olympic Games many times, every time there is an Olympic selection, the national Olympic team will be carefully formed to compete in the Olympics.
However, at this time, the Football Association has not yet reached a consensus on the issue of the coach of the National Olympic Team, and the Football Association is more inclined to choose an obedient local coach.
But the outside world's calls for the national youth team's head coach Krauchen are obviously louder. In addition, Krauchen has already renewed his contract with the Football Association. If he is not used, wouldn't it be a waste of such a famous coach?
So, this time they decided to participate in the competition in the name of the national team, and let Zhu Guanghu lead the team.
But the players actually called up were not the main players of the national team, but the players of the national Olympic team.
Zhu Guanghu had no objection to this. The players in the national youth team had a good foundation. In addition, they had experienced major competitions and won honors in the World Youth Championship.
It can be said that they are the best players among Asian teams of their age group.
Playing football with them might be easier than playing with the national team.
Moreover, the teams participating in the East Asian Games are all old rivals. Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Guam and Mongolia are all easy targets.
Only North Korea, Japan and South Korea are three opponents worth being vigilant about.
The Chinese national football team's grouping was pretty good, as it avoided South Korea and Japan and was grouped together with North Korea, Hong Kong and Macau.
In this group, as long as the Chinese national football team does not suffer from collective food poisoning or any other unexpected incidents, they can advance to the semi-finals even if they play with their eyes closed.
As for the opponent in the semi-finals, it is most likely South Korea or Japan. Among these two teams, Japan is slightly stronger, after all, it has reached the round of 16 of the World Youth Championship.
As for the South Korean team, haha, how can a team that can't even get out of the group stage of the World Youth Championship compare with the World Youth Championship champions?
Lao Zhu had fought wars all his life, but he had never fought such a prosperous war.
Because the Chinese national youth team is so strong, the outside world regarded them as the number one favorite to win the East Asian Games before the game even started.
This is a unprecedented event. Before this, the Chinese team had never won the East Asian Games.
If Lin Feng was just a newcomer in the national team before, then in this new "national team", he is the undisputed number one star.
So after the team's roster was announced, Zhu Guanghu immediately called Lin Feng and invited him to return to China to participate in the competition.
Lin Feng had a headache because the East Asian Games conflicted with the league and the Champions League.
If he returns to China to participate in the East Asian Games, he will miss at least three league games and one Champions League game.
So he didn't agree immediately, but said he needed to think about it for a few days.
You may say that the East Asian Games is important, but actually it is not that important.
But this is a national team game after all, and a direct refusal would have a bad impact, especially since he is the national team's top star, it would be even more difficult for him to miss it.
But if he really participates, it will have a huge impact on his position in the club.
The new season has just begun, and it is a critical moment for new players like him to compete for the team's starting position.
If he gives up the club's games at this time and goes back to participate in the national team's games, he may lose his position as the club's main player.
Lin Feng is a little easier to deal with, after all, he has proved his strength in the Champions League and Super Cup.
In addition, the club's chairman and head coach are very optimistic about him. Missing a few games will not affect his status in the team too much, but it will definitely leave a bad impression on the fans and coaches.
For players like Chen Tao, Gao Lin and Feng Xiaoting who have not yet established themselves in the team and need to compete with their teammates for playing opportunities, if they take leave to participate in the East Asian Games, they may have to sit on the bench for the entire new season.
What’s even worse is that there are not only the East Asian Games in October, but also the 10th National Games which will be held in October.
Although the National Games is only a domestic competition, it is extremely important to the sports bureaus of each province.
In order to achieve good results in the National Games, provincial teams will definitely recruit a large number of players who have studied abroad to return to the country to participate in the competition.
After all this, they won’t be able to play well in the whole October!
No wonder Chinese players are not good at studying abroad. Even if they manage to compete for a starting position in the team, their performance will be ruined by the chaotic domestic competitions.
When you encounter unreliable leaders, they can do things that are not allowed during the national team’s one or two months of training, and they really don’t care about the lives of the players at all.
In comparison, Japan and South Korea have done better in this regard.
When it comes to some less important games, they rarely call up players who have studied abroad, but boldly use newcomers and local players to participate.
This will not only keep overseas players in the main position of the club, but also give opportunities to local young players and cultivate more talents for the national team.
After Lin Feng mentioned the East Asian Games in the group, he indeed attracted collective complaints from his teammates.
Gao Lin: "Alas, I was selected for both the provincial team and the national team. I was almost not at the club throughout October and the first ten days of November. I didn't dare to mention this to the coach, for fear that they would terminate my contract."
Feng Xiaoting: "Who said it wasn't true? In the previous warm-up matches, I played a few times and was praised by Rijkaard. He also encouraged me to perform well and seemed to want to use me. But after all this, I'm afraid the head coach's good impression of me will be completely wiped out."
Chen Tao: "Calling us in at this time will really affect our competitiveness in the club. We have to think of a way to report this to the higher-ups."
Hao Junmin: "Ahem, I don't care. There is definitely no place for me in the team, and it seems that I will be loaned out. Anyway, I can't play here, so it's not unacceptable for me to return to my country to compete."
Zhou Haibin: "That's not the way it sounds. Even if you're loaned out, you still have to compete for playing time with the new team. If you disappear at the beginning of the new season, the loan team won't like you and can still not give you a chance." Hao Junmin: "Ah, what should I do? Can I refuse the call-up to the national team?"
Cui Peng: "Of course you can. As long as you are not afraid of being scolded to death by the fans, you can do anything."
Zhao Xuri: "Fans may understand us, but what we should be careful about is the retaliation from the Football Association after we refuse. Don't forget, we are different from Brother Lin. We are all registered players in China. It is not easy for the Football Association to control us."
Hao Junmin: "Ah, then, then forget it!"
Hao Junmin is a timid person, and when he thought about the serious consequences of refusing the national team's call-up, he immediately backed down.
After seeing everyone's opinions, Lin Feng said:
“The crying child gets the milk. If you have difficulties, you should shout them out loud and respond positively. You can’t keep it in your heart and handle it by yourself.
If you take on everything silently, others will not only not be grateful to you, but will also think you are easy to bully, and in the end they will become even more aggressive. "
Chen Tao: "Do you have any good ideas?"
Lin Feng: "I have some immature ideas. If you can't think of any better solutions, I think we can give it a try."
After saying that, he announced his plan.
Not long ago, CCTV contacted Lin Feng, hoping to conduct an exclusive interview with him and shoot a documentary for him.
Just like the documentary recorded by the NBA about Yao Ming joining the NBA, the main content is about how he joined Inter Milan, the challenges and difficulties he encountered after joining Inter Milan, and how he finally gained a foothold and proved himself in the Serie A league and achieved success, etc.
Last year's documentary "Challenger Yao Ming" was a huge success in China and attracted a lot of attention.
Football is much more popular in China than basketball, and Lin Feng, as a leader of the new generation, is extremely popular in China.
If this documentary could be made well, it could have achieved greater success.
Originally, Lin Feng was a little hesitant, not knowing whether to agree to CCTV's request.
After all, allowing so many reporters to enter and exit the team's training base and even enter private places such as the locker room and his own residence will cause considerable trouble to the team and himself.
He also needs to negotiate with the club. After all, reporters will film his training, which may involve tactical leaks. In short, there are many problems that need to be resolved.
But now, he was ready to say yes.
On the one hand, it was to do CCTV a favor and establish a good relationship with CCTV, which would be of great help to his domestic public opinion in the future.
On the other hand, he also needs to create momentum. He needs to let the outside world know how difficult it is for these players who study abroad to gain a foothold overseas.
There are less than two months left until the East Asian Games.
There isn't much time left for them!
After learning about Lin Feng's plan, everyone expressed their support. There were even some players who had connections in the media who wanted to learn about Lin Feng's plan and get an exclusive interview for themselves.
Although they could not invite reporters from CCTV, there were many news media in the sports circle, and it was not difficult to invite one by using their connections.
There are also some who are quite good at using the Internet and plan to build up momentum for themselves through various channels including traditional media, new Internet media, and even Baidu Tieba, football forums, etc.
With Lin Feng taking the lead, everyone's minds were completely opened up. Each of them showed their unique abilities and came up with many ideas that they had not thought of before.
……
"Lin Feng, I'm Li Hong, a reporter from CCTV, and this is my colleague Xu Yuanyuan, and this is..."
Things went much more smoothly than Lin Feng had imagined. When he submitted his application to the club, the club attached great importance to it.
Moratti personally made the decision and gave the green light all the way.
Not only did they agree to allow CCTV's filming team to enter the team's training base, they also allowed them to ride the team bus and enter the team's locker room to film the head coach's various tactical details before the game and during halftime.
Taking into account that they carried a large amount of equipment and it was inconvenient for them to travel, Inter Milan provided them with a special car to pick them up, arranged accommodation, and even arranged an interpreter. The service was quite thoughtful.
The arrangement made by Inter Milan flattered the CCTV interview team. They had done many exclusive interviews with players, but had never received such high courtesy from the team as this time.
It seems that Lin Feng has a special status in the Inter Milan team, otherwise, how could they enjoy such treatment!
This made them extremely friendly towards Lin Feng and full of confidence in this interview.
Lin Feng didn't put on airs. After introducing themselves to each other, he took them to visit the team's training base.
Inter Milan’s training base covers a large area and is fully equipped with various supporting facilities.
The journalists who came to interview were amazed. Such a complete range of equipment is rare in the country.
In fact, among the training bases of top clubs, Inter Milan's is relatively simple.
The Nerazzurri's locker room is notoriously shabby, and the players' dormitories are built like refugee camps. Compared with AC Milan next door, there is a huge gap.
CCTV reporters are very dedicated and they got straight into work without any adaptation.
The photographer started filming, and the reporter in charge of the interview, accompanied by an interpreter, began to interview Lin Feng's teammates and coaches.
After saying hello to the coaching staff and teammates, Lin Feng returned to the training ground to continue training.
Seeing Lin Feng training, the reporters immediately pointed their cameras at him, wishing to record his every move on the court.
Inter Milan's training content is very full. In the morning, there are various skills and tactical training. In the afternoon, there will be an intra-squad training match, where the main players and substitutes will wear different jerseys and compete on the court to test their training results.
The team's coaching team will observe and record the performance of the players on the field, and arrange the starting roster for the next game based on the players' performance and status.
Lin Feng was wearing a red vest that symbolized the main force, and he scored a goal with his signature long-distance run in the training match.
This goal shocked several reporters on the sidelines. Lin Feng's speed and impact left a deep impression on them, and also made them understand a truth:
It turns out that there is such a huge difference between what you see on TV and what you see in person!
The players' movements seen on TV seemed to be slowed down, but when watching live, the players' movements were as if the accelerator key was pressed, so fast that their eyes could hardly keep up.
This is just an internal team training match. What would the intensity be like in the real top five leagues?
The reporters couldn't help but look forward to the next game!
Their arrival was very coincidental, as Inter Milan will face the visiting Shakhtar Donetsk at home tonight.
Lin Feng will be the starting player.
(End of this chapter)
