Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

A stunning upset: China defeats Italy!

The Chinese national football team secured qualification with one round to spare, achieving its best result ever!

Two games, three goals: China's star player leads the World Cup top scorers list!

The news that the Chinese national football team upset Italy and advanced to the knockout stage was definitely a bombshell in the domestic news media.

After the match, major newspapers, portal websites, and local and CCTV news stations reported the result immediately.

This victory is a cause for celebration for football fans across the country.

Many longtime fans who have followed the Chinese national football team for decades were moved to tears when they saw the team successfully qualify for the next round.

We've been waiting for this day for so many years, haven't we?

In previous World Cups, Chinese fans could only envy other countries' teams from home, but now, they don't have to envy others; instead, it's others' turn to envy the Chinese team!
At least Japanese and South Korean fans, who are still struggling for a chance to qualify, are very envious of Chinese fans right now!

After the match, the Chinese national football team players celebrated wildly in the locker room, their noise so loud that it could be heard even from inside the players' tunnel.

The Italians, who had just lost their game, were feeling dejected. Hearing the celebrations coming from the Chinese team only made them feel worse.

Just four years ago, they, like the Chinese team, celebrated their victories wildly in the locker room.

After defeating France in their final match, the Italian players celebrated wildly in the locker room for several hours with the World Cup trophy before finally calming down.

But now, the defending champions have been pushed to the brink.

They no longer had the heart or the face to celebrate.

As the defending champions, they failed to even advance from the group stage, and they are destined to be nailed to the pillar of shame in history.

……

Human joys and sorrows are not shared; while the Italians were feeling down, the Chinese national football team was experiencing double joy.

"Alright, alright, everyone calm down for a bit. The leaders from the General Administration sent us a commendation, praising everyone's performance in the World Cup group stage and encouraging us to keep up the good work and continue to win glory for the country!"

Although it was just a verbal commendation, it still greatly inspired the national football team players.

After all, as an object of public scorn, the men's football team rarely receives any awards from the General Administration of Sport.

"Tch~~ All just verbal praise, is there anything more substantial?"

Gao Lin's eyes darted around, and he started to have designs on Zhu Guanghu.

His original intention was to ask for a half-day or a full-day vacation, just like he did in the last game, to go out and relax.

But after hearing his words, Old Zhu calmly nodded:
"Yes, children, yes!"

Upon hearing this, everyone perked up, stopped arguing and making a fuss, and all gathered around, gazing expectantly at Old Zhu.

Clearly, everyone was curious about what kind of reward the higher-ups would give them.

"Ahem, I've heard from someone that the General Administration of Sport hinted that as long as we make it to the quarterfinals, every player who participates in the World Cup will be allocated a free apartment in their place of residence!"

This reward standard is similar to that of Olympic champions.

However, with the soaring housing prices in the past two years, it has become difficult for even Olympic champions to obtain such awards.

A house in China, according to market prices, costs at least several hundred thousand or even millions of yuan.

Although it's not a cash reward, the house is still appreciating in value, making this reward even more valuable than cash.

Apart from a few wealthy overseas veterans like Lin Feng, the other national team players' eyes lit up when they heard Lao Zhu's words, and they all chased after Lao Zhu to confirm the truth of the news.

"Would I lie to you? If I wasn't sure, would I make things up?"

Old Zhu's affirmative answer dispelled everyone's doubts.

This greatly boosted the morale and fighting spirit of the team members.

Although Coach Zhu did not announce a holiday after the game this time, the players didn't care.

Everyone just wants to seize the time to train hard and strive to go further in the upcoming competitions!
After defeating Italy, the Chinese team has secured their place in the knockout stage with one round to spare.

Now all they have to do is wait for the final round of matches to compete with Paraguay for first place in Group F.

Given the situation in Group E, the Oranje have shown a very strong momentum in this World Cup.

If the Chinese national football team wants to go further in the World Cup, it would be best to win the group.

It's not difficult to achieve this; the national team just needs to avoid losing the last match.

……

After securing his place in the knockout stage, Lin Feng began to pay attention to the situation in other groups.

According to the schedule, the Chinese national football team's opponent in the round of 16 is the runner-up of Group E.

If the Chinese national football team can successfully defeat its opponent and advance to the quarterfinals, then in the quarterfinals, the Chinese team's opponent will be the winner between the top team in Group H and the second-place team in Group G.

Currently, Switzerland and Chile are in first place in Group H, both having won their first-round matches.

As for Spain, the pre-tournament favorite, they currently have 0 points and are tied for third place with Honduras.

But Lin Feng knew that with the strength of the Spanish team, they would advance sooner or later.

The only question is whether they advance as the first or second place finisher.

This is very important for the Chinese team. If the Spanish team advances as the group winner, then they will most likely be the Chinese team's opponent in the quarterfinals.

Given the strength of the Spanish team, it will be very difficult for the Chinese national team to get past them, and they will most likely be eliminated in the quarterfinals.

But if the top team in Group H is not Spain, but another team, perhaps the Chinese national team can still compete?
Historically, Spain has won the group stage with a better goal difference than Chile when they were tied on points.

But under the butterfly effect of Lin Feng, the reborn individual, will the trajectory of history be altered?
……

The second round of Group G matches kicked off on June 21. After being held to a draw by Ivory Coast in the first round, Cristiano Ronaldo was called upon to play despite being injured.

The return of the team leader seems to have instilled confidence in the Portuguese team.

In this match, the Portuguese team was clearly in much better form than in the previous game.

The teamwork and timing of attacks have improved significantly. In the 29th minute of the first half, Portugal launched an attack from the wing.

Thiago delivered a precise through ball from the right flank, and Meireles volleyed it into the net, making the score 1-0.
However, the North Korean team did not surrender after conceding a goal. For the remainder of the first half, they continued to play tenaciously and even penetrated into the Portuguese team's half several times, creating good scoring opportunities.

But perhaps the players' performance in the first half gave the North Korean coach the illusion that his team could really be on par with Portugal.

It's also possible that because they were behind in the score, they had to fight hard to qualify.

After the start of the second half, the North Korean team abandoned their previous tactics and began to play attacking football.

However, for weaker teams, taking the initiative to attack against strong opponents will inevitably lead to a collapse in the backcourt if they fail to break through after a prolonged period of attack!

That's exactly what happened!

In the 53rd minute of the second half, Portugal launched a counter-attack after successfully defending.

Miguel delivered a 50-meter diagonal pass from the right wing, quickly sending the ball into the attacking third.

Meireles chested the ball down on the edge of the penalty area and passed it to Almeida, who then backheeled it back to Meireles.

The two players' combination disrupted the North Korean defense. Just when the North Korean players thought Meireles was going to shoot himself, he unexpectedly passed the ball to Simão, who was making a run down the right wing.

Simão received the ball and unleashed a shot that went between the goalkeeper's legs, making the score 2-0.
The second goal conceded seemed to shatter the morale of the North Korean team. Just when they were in disarray, the Portuguese struck again, scoring two goals in the 56th and 60th minutes to extend the score to 4-0!

At this point, the North Korean team had no hope of winning. If they didn't want to suffer a humiliating defeat, it would be best to call it quits and not push forward to attack in a suicidal manner.

But their coach seemed slow to react and didn't do so.

This foreshadowed the tragedy that followed!

In the 81st minute, Portugal scored their fifth goal through substitute Liedson.

Six minutes later, Ronaldo finally got his first goal of the tournament, extending the lead to 6-0.
Before the end of the match, the Portuguese scored again, sealing the score at 7-0!
This is the most lopsided score in this World Cup so far.

Having lost the match, the North Korean team has completely lost hope of advancing and has secured last place in the group with one round to spare.

Given Portugal's strength, defeating North Korea is a given.

But winning by such a large margin, to be honest, exceeded outside expectations.

Although Asian teams are generally not very strong, they can't be that weak if they can make it to the World Cup finals.
After all, a 7-goal thrashing is a rare sight even in the World Cup.

After the match, Lin Feng sent Ronaldo a congratulatory text message.

To be honest, Ronaldo's performance in this game was rather average. His last goal was dispensable and had no impact on the outcome of the match.

But Ronaldo's poor performance doesn't mean he's insignificant. Just his presence alone forces the North Korean team to focus a lot of their defensive efforts on him. That's the power of a superstar!
Lin Feng has a similar effect on the national team. As long as he is on the field, he can have a great deterrent effect on the opponent, forcing them to allocate more players to limit his performance.

This will reduce the pressure on teammates and create opportunities for them to attack.

Just as Portugal was thrashing North Korea, Kaká led Brazil to victory over Ivory Coast.

Brazil's victory in this match was rather unpleasant, as Kaká received two yellow cards in the final moments and was sent off with a red card.

As he left the field, Kaka had a smile on his face that was hard to tell whether it was self-deprecation or helplessness, but when he reached the players' tunnel, he broke down in tears.

Few people know what Kaka sacrificed for this World Cup.

Despite having a groin injury, he disregarded his health and insisted on receiving pain-relieving injections to participate in the match, despite the team doctor's objections.

He was not unaware of what this meant for his body, but for the sake of the team and Brazilian football, he did it anyway!

However, Kaka's performance was inevitably affected by playing with an injury. In addition, those two yellow cards were completely undeserved; the opposing players put on a great show and framed him for being sent off.

No matter how he explained, no one believed him, and the referee insisted on calling a foul and sent him off the field.

Kaka, feeling wronged and with nowhere to confide in, finally broke down.

But there are still people in this world who are willing to believe in him.

Immediately after the match, Lin Feng posted a message on Twitter in support of Kaka:

"I don't know why the other guy, number 18, did that, but Kaka's arm didn't even touch his face before he collapsed, clutching his face. Could it be that Kaka has learned Master Roshi's Kamehameha and can hurt people from a distance?"

Lin Feng was only acting out of sympathy for Kaka and to stand up for him.

Unexpectedly, his tweet attracted comments from other star players.

Cristiano Ronaldo replied below:
"Yes, I watched the replay of the match. Kaka was just standing there when the opponent charged at him, and he fell to the ground clutching his face. That wasn't a foul at all; it was a bluff!"

"By the way, if Kaka really knew the Kamehameha, I'd really like to learn it!"

Although Messi did not comment on Lin Feng's post, he did post on his Instagram to support Kaka:
"Although I haven't had many interactions with Kaka, based on my understanding of him, he wouldn't do such a despicable thing on the field!"

The successive statements from these three superstars have attracted the attention and participation of countless people.

Many other players subsequently joined in supporting Kaká, and the internet was abuzz with excitement as countless fans flooded FIFA's official website demanding an explanation.

In this situation, both the Ivorian player who committed the foul and FIFA are under tremendous pressure.

Shortly after the match, Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba posted an apology to Kaká on social media.

After the game, he specifically sought out the teammate who drew the foul and pressed him to clarify what happened on the court.

Upon learning that his teammate had used underhanded tactics to frame Kaká, Drogba was furious and berated his teammate, insisting on taking him to the Brazilian team's hotel to apologize.

However, the hotel security for the Brazilian team was worried about something happening and didn't let them in. Drogba had no choice but to apologize to Kaka online and say that if the Brazilian team filed an appeal, they would actively cooperate with the referee committee's investigation to try to have Kaka's red card overturned.

Within a single day, the situation took an unexpected turn.

Kaka, now cleared of wrongdoing, expressed his gratitude on social media in Portuguese, English, and Chinese.

I am grateful to those who spoke up for him during this time.

The fact that three superstars joined forces to speak out for one person has caused quite a stir in the football world.

This made people realize for the first time that in the mobile internet era with the rise of social media, these top athletes actually have such a huge influence.

This also showed fans that football is not just about winning and losing and calculation, but also about warmth and compassion. (End of Chapter)