Chapter 682
South Africa World Cup, Team China sets off!
Lin Feng's return signifies that the Chinese team has reached its full potential, and the team has officially entered the final stage of preparation!
In order to deal with teams from different regions and with different styles in the World Cup.
Zhu Guanghu made some adjustments to the team's tactics and prepared several different sets of tactics.
When facing strong teams, the Chinese team abandons possession and focuses on counter-attacking.
When facing weaker teams, the Chinese team employs a possession-based, pressing tactic to score as many goals as possible and concede as few as possible.
When facing teams of similar strength, the Chinese team first focuses on defense, and then adjusts its tactics according to the opponent's state and style in the game.
Overall, Lao Zhu's tactical choices were relatively conservative.
This is mainly related to the current public opinion environment in China, as this World Cup has received tremendous attention domestically.
Even people who don't usually watch football have been drawn in by the World Cup's popularity.
Such a high level of attention makes it impossible for the Chinese national football team to afford to lose. If they lose even one match, the pressure on the team in the public eye will explode.
At that time, Lao Zhu's achievements in leading the team over the past few years will probably be wiped out overnight, and he will be criticized by countless fans, who may even curse his ancestors!
In the last World Cup, the Chinese team was too optimistic, which led to an early defeat against Costa Rica, putting them in an extremely dangerous situation.
Having learned from his previous experience, Old Zhu dared not be careless this time.
First, get a point, score a goal, and achieve the minimum living allowance target before worrying about anything else!
"Wu Lei is a good kid. He's quick-witted, has good positioning, and his footwork is also quite good!"
Lin Feng's return has revitalized the team's forwards.
The forwards, who had previously performed poorly in intra-squad training matches and warm-up games, seemed to have rediscovered their shooting boots overnight, with their goal-scoring efficiency increasing several times over.
Some forwards with good awareness and exquisite footwork can even do some extra work.
For example, Gao Lin and Wu Lei!
During the team's training match, Wu Lei became an unexpected surprise for the team, and his outstanding performance won the unanimous approval of the coaching staff.
Zhu Guanghu originally only took Wu Lei to the World Cup to experience the atmosphere of the game, but he didn't expect the young man to be so strong.
His unpredictable positioning is truly world-class, far surpassing the current forwards of the Chinese national team, and even surpassing Gao Lin, who has played in the Bundesliga for several years!
Before Lin Feng returned to the team, Wu Lei had also demonstrated his superior positioning ability in the team's training matches, but his teammates were not clear about his abilities and characteristics, and it was difficult for them to think the same way as him.
Either they didn't see his run, or they did see it but missed the best time to pass. By the time they passed the ball again, Wu Lei had either already run past the offside position or aroused the vigilance of the opposing defender, thus losing the opportunity to shoot from an open space.
But Lin Feng is different. He is very clear about Wu Lei's personal strength and playing style. In addition, he has a high football IQ and vision that other national team players do not have.
Although the two train and compete together for a very short time, their advanced awareness allows them to always work together seamlessly.
The two often spotted open opportunities at the same time; as soon as Lin Feng passed the ball out, Wu Lei would run into position perfectly.
The Chinese national football team's defense simply couldn't stop this world-class passing and movement; Wu Lei's runs often resulted in wide-open spaces.
After playing together like this many times, anyone could see how extraordinary this 19-year-old was!
"Wow, Xiao Lei, your positioning is pretty good!"
Gao Lin ruffled Wu Lei's hair, his tone tinged with envy.
"No, no, it's mainly because Brother Feng spread the word well!"
Wu Lei was a little shy and embarrassed by his teammates' praise.
"Xiao Linzi's pass was indeed excellent, but your positioning was also outstanding!"
Zheng Zhi also has high hopes for this younger player. As a midfielder, who wouldn't want a teammate with sharp positioning and quick passes?
Xiao Linzi?
Lin Feng nearly choked on his own saliva when he heard Zheng Zhi address him.
Why has the seniority been lowered?
They used to be in the "Jiao" generation, but now they've become "Zi" generation?
"The plan has changed; we need to adjust our tactics!"
Zhu Guanghu was also surprised by Wu Lei's performance. He was overjoyed and couldn't help but feel eager to try his hand at it.
Perhaps we could give Wu Lei more playing time and more opportunities to perform. If he performs well, we could even use him as a surprise weapon in crucial moments.
……
During the national football team's training camp, a large number of fans and reporters gathered outside the Xianghe training base.
Unlike the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, South Africa is too far from China, and only a minority of fans are able to go to the stadium to cheer for the Chinese team.
In addition, South Africa has a poor security situation, and it is easy to encounter danger there.
Therefore, many fans made a special trip to the Xianghe training base to cheer for the national football team and send them off on their journey.
These fans came from all over the country, young and old, men and women. The only thing they had in common was that they all came to support the national football team spontaneously!
"Go China!"
"China team, you will win!"
"Go ahead and play with confidence! The 13 billion people of our motherland will always be your support!"
To avoid disrupting the team's normal training, the fans did not cause a disturbance outside the training base. Instead, they displayed banners and signs supporting the national football team and silently showed their support.
In the past, whenever the national football team held training camps, fans would always climb up the walls, trees, and nearby buildings of the training base to watch the games.
But this time, that didn't happen.
Old Zhu originally planned to conduct closed training to minimize the leakage of his tactical details.
But seeing how enthusiastic the fans were, he felt bad letting them come all this way only to be disappointed.
Therefore, a compromise was chosen: half of the training was open to the public, and the other half was closed to the public.
Unexpectedly, his actions were met with opposition from the fans:
"You guys just continue your closed training. Before the team departs, let us take a quick look at the players from afar. Don't let our presence affect the team's preparations. Your primary task right now is to focus on preparing for the match!"
Old Zhu has been involved in the football industry for decades. When has he ever seen such a sensible and understanding fan?
This scene deeply moved him.
I secretly vowed to myself that I must achieve good results in the World Cup and absolutely not let the fans down!
……
While the Chinese national football team was making its final preparations in an intense and orderly manner at the Xianghe training base, South Africa had already welcomed its first batch of participating teams.
On May 26, the Australian team was the first to arrive in South Africa, becoming the first team besides the host nation. Two days later, Brazil, the favorite to win the World Cup and known as the five-time champions, followed closely behind, landing on South African soil.
Following that, teams from Argentina, Uruguay, Italy, England, and other countries also arrived.
After entering June, East Asian teams also began to depart one after another. The Japanese, South Korean, and North Korean teams set off for South Africa on June 1st and 2nd.
Of the five Asian teams, only the Chinese national team has yet to depart.
On June 3, the Chinese national football team finally embarked on their journey.
As the team departed from Beijing Capital International Airport, tens of thousands of fans came to see them off. They were reluctant to part with the team and offered their sincerest blessings, wishing them all the best!
……
In 2010, there were no direct flights from China to South Africa.
The Chinese national football team had to fly to Dubai first, and then transfer there to fly to South Africa.
This journey was very long, with more than 19 hours spent in the air alone. Including transfers and waiting time, it took about 24 hours in total.
When everyone arrived in South Africa, they were exhausted and jet-lagged, making it difficult to get proper rest.
It wasn't until June 6th that the national football team recovered from the fatigue of their journey and jet lag, and was able to resume training.
"Luckily, our match is on June 15th, otherwise we might not have been able to recover!"
"Next time we should have started earlier. There's obviously a reason why strong teams like Brazil and Argentina set off so early!"
"Yeah, we still suffered from our lack of experience. We'll get better after we gain more experience!"
The Chinese team has only participated in the World Cup twice. The first World Cup was held on home soil, so there was no need to travel too far in advance.
But the experience from that time is obviously not applicable this time, after all, South Africa is much farther away than Japan and South Korea.
The next World Cup is said to be held in Brazil. Like South Africa, Brazil is a country in the Southern Hemisphere, which is very far from mainland China.
Based on this experience, it would be safer to depart at least half a month in advance next time.
In the first few days after arriving in South Africa, the Chinese national football team mainly focused on recovery training.
After June 9, as the players gradually recovered their form, the Chinese national football team began to try to arrange friendly matches.
At this point, almost all 32 teams participating in the World Cup have arrived. Due to the schedule, some teams will start their matches on June 11, while others will have to wait until June 16.
The Chinese national football team's schedule is also relatively late. The first match against Slovakia is scheduled for 7:30 pm on June 15th, which is still six days away.
If we play a friendly match now, there are four or five days to recover in between, which will not affect the official match at all.
Perhaps it's because the Chinese national football team is quite strong and ranks relatively high in FIFA, or perhaps it's because the team has a phenomenal player like Lin Feng.
So after the Chinese national football team announced that it wanted to arrange friendly matches with other teams, it actually received invitations from quite a few teams.
Based on their group assignments, the Chinese national football team ultimately chose Portugal for a warm-up match.
Group F, where the Chinese national football team is located, includes strong European teams like Italy and Portugal, which can be used to simulate the Italian team.
For Portugal, having North Korea in their group provides a good opportunity to play against China and experience the style of East Asian teams.
Furthermore, Cristiano Ronaldo, the star player of the Portuguese team, is Lin Feng's teammate and friend at the club, so the two teams hit it off immediately and took a liking to each other.
"How is your injury? Will it affect your performance in the upcoming official matches?"
Before the match started, Lin Feng took the initiative to come over to the Portuguese team and greet Pepe and Ronaldo.
In the previous Champions League final, Ronaldo was injured by Pique's tackle.
After the match, Lin Feng was in a hurry to return to China to report and didn't have time to check on Ronaldo's injury.
Seeing him arrive in South Africa with the Portuguese team, Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief.
The fact that he came means the situation isn't that serious; otherwise, he should be at home recuperating right now.
"It's a minor injury. The team doctor said I just need to rest for another week!"
Cristiano Ronaldo appeared very optimistic and spoke in a relaxed tone.
Lin Feng nodded and patted him on the shoulder:
"That's good. I wish you all the best in advance!"
Although Portugal has virtually no chance of winning this World Cup, a highly competitive guy like Ronaldo would definitely regret missing the opportunity to participate in the World Cup for the rest of his life if he missed it due to injury!
There is little historical rivalry between the Chinese and Portuguese teams, and they have almost no head-to-head records.
With the two teams' leaders on good terms, the friendly match was played in a very friendly atmosphere.
The final score was 2-2, with each team playing a good half.
In the first half, Portugal launched a fierce attack, using exquisite teamwork and Almeida and Moutinho to open up China's goal twice in the 22nd and 39th minutes.
But in the second half, the Chinese team, having adapted to the opponent's tactics, seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack.
Lin Feng scored a goal in the 59th minute with a free kick, and in the 77th minute, Gao Lin passed the ball across the middle from the left side of the penalty area, assisting Han Peng to score again.
This result is acceptable to both sides. The Chinese team exposed many shortcomings in the game, such as some details in defense and disadvantages in physical confrontation, which were the main reasons for their goals conceded in the first half.
However, the two goals in the second half proved that even against top-tier European teams, the Chinese team still has the ability to break through the opponent's goal.
What remains unknown is whether the Portuguese deliberately threw the match.
After all, without Ronaldo, Portugal's true fighting strength will definitely be diminished.
If Ronaldo were on the field, would the Chinese team have lost?
"Judging from the current situation, our strength is roughly in line with FIFA's ranking. Even if we encounter stronger opponents, we still have a fighting chance. So what we need to do now is to try our best to secure points against teams that are not as strong as us!"
The World Cup group stage only has three rounds. If you can win two matches, you'll basically have it in the bag.
However, if you don't get 6 points, but only 4 or 5 points, then it's quite dangerous.
Given that the group includes top teams like the defending champions Italy, the Chinese team has to accept the loss.
This leaves the Chinese team with very little room for error.
In their first match against Slovakia, the Chinese team must win, otherwise they will face a do-or-die situation in the second round, just like in the 2002 World Cup!
But there is another possibility: what if the Italian team falters?
However, because of their defending champion title, no one would think in that direction. (End of Chapter)