Chapter 6: Intensifying Training for Teammates!
While Klaus Toppmöller was working tirelessly, Lin Feng was also pondering a question.
How could he leverage his advantage as a reborn person to help this China Youth Team and the future National Football Team improve their combat effectiveness?
A fence needs three posts, and a good man needs three helpers.
Football is a team sport; no matter how strong an individual's ability, without a group of good teammates to cooperate with, it is difficult to achieve victory.
The National Football Team's strength was ultimately too weak, coupled with the Football Association being a terrible teammate.
If he didn't do something, even with him as a variable, the National Football Team's future performance would likely not be much better.
And this National Youth Team, hailed as the 'Super Platinum Generation,' had many players who would become National Team players in the future, some even serving the National Team for over a decade.
If he could help them improve their own strength, then the combat effectiveness of the National Football Team would naturally rise as well.
As for how to help these teammates improve their own strength, it was actually very simple: find a way to get them to study abroad and train in high-level overseas Leagues.
This was a path that both Japan and Korea had taken and proven effective.
It was also the only potentially successful option without involving deeper issues like youth training, League, and Football Association system reforms.
Thinking of this, Lin Feng knew what he should do.
...
For many in the China Youth Team, this was their first time in Netherlands.
Being new and unfamiliar with the place, they naturally regarded Lin Feng, the local expert, as their guide.
Although Lin Feng lived in Germany, Netherlands was very close to Germany, and he had been there many times.
So, he skillfully led his teammates around Amsterdam.
The areas they passed through were all specially chosen by Lin Feng, mostly the most prosperous and beautiful parts of Amsterdam.
As the capital of Netherlands, an old developed country, Amsterdam was very prosperous.
Before the 2008 economic crisis, Western Europe was a scene of fiery prosperity, far from the chaos and dilapidation of two decades later.
Most of the young players from the National Youth Team, except for a few who played for first-tier city clubs, had never seen such a grand spectacle!
Each of them was like Liu Grandma entering the Grand View Garden, completely dazzled by this world of extravagance.
What a wonderful place!
Having finally come out, they should at least buy some gifts to take back to their relatives and friends, right?
Lin Feng then took them to the busiest shopping mall, stimulating their desire to spend with a dazzling array of goods.
As expected, everyone's eyes widened; there were so many types of things here, many of which were not available in China at all, like the latest BlackBerry phones, PSP game consoles, and the like.
So, everyone started shopping frantically, emptying their wallets and entering 'buy, buy, buy' mode.
Some spared no expense to buy branded bags, watches, and high-end cosmetics; these things were much cheaper in Europe than in China, and reselling them back home might even net a small profit.
Some spent a lot of money on a large number of electronic products, and others had peculiar tastes, actually buying several sets of genuine LEGO toys.
To this, Lin Feng could only say: Brother, you are invincible!
Before coming to Europe to participate in the World Youth Championship, there were rumors that the China Youth Team might go to the Clairefontaine training camp in Paris for training.
Paris in 2005 was not the chaotic city of later generations, full of thieves, refugees, and new immigrants, constantly plagued by strikes and protests.
In people's minds, it was the city of fashion, the city of romance, and also a shopping paradise.
Affected by this, many players' relatives and friends asked them to help with proxy shopping.
So, the things these young players from the China Youth Team bought were not necessarily for themselves (except for that LEGO guy).
After all, among them, except for a very few who had already become starters in the first team, most of the others were substitutes or even still struggling in the youth team, earning very little money throughout the year.
How could they have so much money to buy such expensive things?
Lin Feng had seen these things many times, and even better ones in later generations, so he wasn't particularly interested.
He didn't buy anything himself, only spent one euro on the latest sports newspaper to browse the latest news in the football world.
Most of the newspaper's content was about European football transfers this summer.
Major transfer news like Real Madrid star and Barça traitor Figo transferring to Inter Milan.
And European Best Newcomer Ramos transferring to Real Madrid filled the headlines.
After flipping a few pages back, he finally saw a report about the World Youth Championship in an inconspicuous position.
“Oriental Dragon Defeats German Chariot, Young Prodigy Shocks the World!”
Lin Feng immediately saw his handsome photo in the accompanying picture and inwardly gave a thumbs up to the Dutch.
This photography skill was top-notch!
Upon closer inspection, the Dutch were very complimentary, writing many words of praise for him.
Of course, Kaka was mentioned the most; the Dutch repeatedly compared him to Kaka, and some commentators even thought he was a youthful version of Kaka, with unlimited potential if he could reach Kaka's current heights in the future.
However, compared to another young person with an accompanying picture, the Dutch's praise for him was clearly not as strong.
“Barça Genius Shines in World Youth Championship, Pampas Eagles Become Biggest Favorites to Win!”
In the reports about Messi and Argentina Team, the Dutch almost used every possible superlative, praising Messi to the skies.
Words like 'peerless genius' and 'future king of football' were all used.
La Masia Youth Academy was founded by Cruyff, a Dutchman, so the Dutch felt a sense of pride and familiarity with the talents who emerged from La Masia Youth Academy.
It was not surprising that the praise was so blatant.
Looking at the photo of Messi pointing to the sky with both hands, celebrating a goal, Lin Feng took a deep breath.
Being in the same era as players like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo was the sorrow of many excellent players because it was difficult to stand out.
But similarly, wasn't it also an opportunity?
Competing with the best players would only constantly stimulate oneself to become stronger!
Just thinking about this scenario was exciting!
...
Although Klaus Toppmöller gave the China Team a day off, everyone was unfortunately short on cash.
After only half a day of shopping, most people had run out of money.
Even the money for lunch was ultimately paid by Chen Tao.
Chen Tao, after all, had secured his starting position at Shenyang Ginde, with an annual salary of around 400,000, so he could afford a meal.
But for him, this meal was also painful.
“Damn it, over ten thousand for one meal, why don't they just rob us?!”
Looking at his deflated wallet, even Chen Tao began to wail.
“Exactly, that much money, in our hometown, would be enough for dozens of banquet tables, enough for everyone to eat for three days and three nights!”
Hao Junmin, who came from a rural background, nodded repeatedly, feeling that this meal was very uneconomical.
“You guys say the cost of living here in Europe is so high, then do they earn a lot of money from their jobs too?”
Someone asked curiously.
“Definitely, otherwise how could they afford such high consumption?”
Dong Fangzhuo, who played football in Belgium, said casually.
“Brother Dong, what's your annual salary at Manchester United?”
Hearing Dong Fangzhuo speak, Lin Feng had a flash of inspiration and casually asked a question, pretending to be nonchalant.
Everyone was very interested in this question and immediately stopped whispering, their eyes all looking over, and each of them pricked up their ears, afraid of missing a single word.
“Ahem, it's not much, I'm new, and I haven't played in the China Team yet, so Manchester United gives relatively little, my weekly salary is probably around 5,000-6,000 pounds!”
As soon as these words came out, everyone was in an uproar.
Someone started calculating on their fingers.
If the weekly salary was five or six thousand, wouldn't the annual salary be 300,000 pounds?
At this time, the exchange rate between the pound and the RMB was roughly 1:14.
An annual salary of 300,000 pounds, converted into RMB, amounted to 4.2 million RMB!
Dong Fangzhuo's salary was actually that high?
PS: To be honest, before starting this book, I was actually very apprehensive.
In football novels, the National Football Team is a big minefield that many people dare not touch.
The reason is also very simple: the National Football Team is really too bad, so bad that many people are completely disappointed with the National Football Team and can't help but curse when it's mentioned.
But as I said in the novel, no matter how bad the National Football Team is, it's still our own child, and everyone still hopes it can get better.
Since I started watching football in 2008, the National Football Team has truly disappointed me again and again; like everyone else, I've cursed it, grieved over its misfortune and raged at its inaction, and sworn never to watch again.
But occasionally, when I see news of a National Football Team match, I still can't help but secretly open the live broadcast to watch.
After watching, I can't help but want to slap myself twice: why am I such a masochist!
But ever since I saw the National Football Team miraculously retain its hope of promotion after a near-death experience in the World Cup qualifiers.
My perception of the National Football Team slowly began to change.
This National Football Team is undoubtedly the weakest National Football Team I've seen in all my years of watching football.
But their mental outlook might be the best National Football Team in the last decade.
Their fighting spirit, their desire for victory, and their implementation and execution of the coach's tactical arrangements are the best the National Football Team has done in recent years.
If the stronger National Football Team from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers had this mental outlook, perhaps we wouldn't have been spectators at the Russia World Cup.
The National Football Team's current strength is still very poor, but I feel that the overall environment is improving.
Although there are still many who criticize the National Football Team, as it's a national spitting pot, anyone can start cursing.
But the number of people willing to look at the National Football Team's shortcomings and weaknesses truthfully and objectively, and speak fairly for it, is also increasing.
Moreover, after the National Football Team hit rock bottom, it finally recognized its own strength and no longer harbored any unrealistic illusions.
The National Football Team is currently at the level of Asia's third or even fourth tier, and after recognizing this reality, the National Football Team can instead implement tactical play that better suits its own strength, no longer playing as awkwardly and uncomfortably as before.
More importantly, as the youth training players from the 'money football' era gradually mature, the performances of the National Youth Team and the National Youth Team in international competitions are recovering.
This gives me hope.
Come on, Chinese Football!
