World Cup of Great Powers

Chapter 311 Historic Inflection Point
The Chinese team defeated the French team to win the Confederations Cup, which was something most fans had never thought of before the game.

Especially when the signboard of "unofficial world champion" is pushed out, the international reputation of the Chinese team has reached an unprecedented height.

Saudi coach Santrac: "Fortunately, we are not in the same group as the Chinese team. This is our greatest luck."

Iran head coach Blazevic: "It is undeniable that the Chinese team must be the biggest obstacle for the Iranian team to qualify for the World Cup. Looking at it now, the Iranian team should consider how to play in the play-offs."

Head coach Troussier of Little Days: "In the recent friendly match, Little Days lost 0 to 4 to the French team. From this point of view, the gap between Little Days and the Chinese team has been widened."

Hiddink, head coach of South Korea: "This is just a show, and it cannot be taken seriously. I believe that under my guidance, South Korea's performance in the World Cup will definitely be better than that of the Chinese team!"

French coach Le Maire: "I have nothing to say about this loss. The players worked very hard, but unfortunately luck was not on our side. But after the loss, most of the players were relieved. Because we heard that if you win the Confederations Cup, you cannot win the World Cup. Judging from the current situation, our players have more confidence in defending the World Cup champion.”

Cameroon's former head coach Le Chante: "Did you see it? The Chinese team is strong! Even the French team lost. Why should I dismiss get out of class early?"

AFC official: "Judging from the performance of the China-France final, Chinese football no longer belongs to Asia!"

"Qilu Evening News": "The Chinese Dragon Team is going to the world!"

The impact of winning the Confederations Cup this time has been huge in the country.

Under the slogans of defeating the "world champion" and "we are the world champion", the fans inevitably floated.

In the streets and alleys, the word football also frequently appears in the mouths of citizens.

"Old Li, have you heard? We won the world championship yesterday!"

"I've heard, I've heard! Liu Laosan's house is in a mess, and he probably broke those dishes."

"I really didn't expect that in just a few years, we would become world champions!"

"World champion? Isn't that right? Isn't the World Cup just next year?"

"The World Cup is the World Cup, and the world champion is the world champion. You see it's written in the newspaper, we are now the unofficial world champion!"

"Unofficial World Champion? What the hell is that?"

"Whatever it is, it's a world champion"

On TV, in newspapers, on the Internet, there are interview videos about this game and players everywhere.

The walls of shops in the streets and alleys are also covered with posters of players.

The sporting goods dealer even seized the opportunity to purchase a batch of uniforms and footballs.

As soon as the goods are in hand, they are sold out.

The workers in the factory also had to work overtime for production.

In addition to sporting goods, shop owners of cultural goods are also anxious to scold their mothers.

"Sorry, sorry, I'll be there in the afternoon, I'll be there in the afternoon."

"Why don't you look at these foreign stars again?"

"It's Ronaldo, it's Batistuta, it's Raul, and they all played well."

"Ah, yes, yes, you are right, I shouldn't worship foreigners, I shouldn't worship foreigners."

After sending away batch after batch of students who bought posters, the owner of the stationery store picked up the microphone again, "Hello? When will the batch of international football posters I want be delivered to me?"

Affected by the championship, in addition to the out-of-stock of football and peripheral products, the attitude of the people towards football has achieved a qualitative change.

From last year's Asian Cup to this year's Confederations Cup.

The popularity of football among the people has skyrocketed.

The governments of various regions have received letters from many citizens, hoping to build more public football fields in the city.

Football has also become a popular form of entertainment for young people.

Fortunately, the major colleges and universities have their own football fields;
And those folk teams who want to play football but have no place to play, besides going to the school to borrow the venue, they all propose to the county, city, and province through their respective relationships to expand the folk football field.

Most of the members of these folk teams are successful entrepreneurs in various regions. Together, they usually represent the economic power of a region.

Therefore, their ideas and suggestions have also been valued by leaders at all levels.

Finally, at the end of 01.

After the red-headed document was issued, the central government allocated funds, and Zhuxie took the lead in screening venues in areas above prefecture-level cities across the country, and then built more than ten national-level football stadiums and more than 100 civilian football stadiums.

The most important thing is that these venues are not the kind of comprehensive stadiums with a running track outside, but special football fields with auditoriums on the sidelines like in England.

After the construction teams from all over the country selected the site and started excavation, it caused a chain reaction.

The economic benefits brought by the stadium have led business owners from all over the world to start building business centers around the football stadium.

In terms of real estate, the concept of "ball house" was even proposed.

The commercial and residential areas centered on the football field are slowly taking shape.

Under the leadership of the city, some local bosses in small counties and prefecture-level cities under its jurisdiction also began to collectively contribute.

Those who have money will give money, those who have material will give material, and those who have money will give people.

Use a piece of waste land from the government to build a private football field by yourself.

Although the conditions of this kind of football field are very simple, there are neither stands nor night lights.

But as long as the sun rises, you will see someone running with the ball on the football field, rain or shine.

The establishment of more than 100 official football fields and hundreds of private football fields also reflects the popularization rate of football and the importance attached to it from the side.

Even at the meeting at the end of the year, some people proposed to replace table tennis with football as the national game.

The increase in stadiums has also led to a surge in the number of private football teams.

Faced with the crowded registration list of the second division league, Zhuxie even began to consider expanding the size of the domestic league and advancing the date of the establishment of the Chinese Super League.

Many years later, when foreign scholars came to China to study football experience and sum up the successful experience of Chinese football, they came to a unified conclusion:
The championship of the Confederations Cup in 2001 was a historical turning point that brought about a qualitative change in Chinese football.

After leading the team to win the Confederations Cup, Zeng Zheng finally had a period of respite.

The next step is to plan how to lead the team to play well in the top ten.

Zeng Zheng's suggestion was of course that the group should qualify first, and a series of strategic plans were formulated with this goal in mind.

Of course, there are accidents in everything.

In addition to the detailed group championship plan, Zeng Zheng will also submit an alternative plan for how to play the qualifying round if the group is second.

The two proposals are full of tens of thousands of words.

Seeing such a detailed battle plan, Zhu Xie was also very satisfied.

After all, before Zeng Zheng, there was no head coach who would plan in detail how to play each game and how to win each game.

After playing the Confederations Cup, the national football team was disbanded on the spot.

Zeng Zheng, who was on vacation, traveled for 20 hours and flew to Mendoza, Argentina to watch the match of the China Youth Team in the World Youth Championship.

After getting off the plane, Zeng Zheng took a deep breath of air.

"It feels quite similar to Kunming here."

"That's right, Boss Zeng." Han Tao read from the side with a travel guide, "It's warm in the 20s during the day, but it's cold at night. The temperature difference between morning and night is a bit big."

"Because the climate here is similar to that of Kunming, the Chinese youth team's previous training ground was put in Kunming."

Before Zeng Zheng's arrival, the staff of the China Youth Team had negotiated the training venue with the amateur team of the local tax bureau.

The turf of the training ground is well maintained, and Zeng Zheng also praised it after stepping on it a few times.

This trip to Argentina, Zeng Zheng was an individual tourist and did not inform the authorities.

So when Zeng Zheng was in the crowd watching the training match of the China Youth Team, these young players of the China Youth Team had no idea that Zeng Zheng was watching not far away.

Two days before the race, Chen Jingang led the team to conduct a public training session in front of the Argentine media.

As the favorite to win this World Youth Championship, a large group of Argentine local media came.

The last World Youth Championship, coupled with the Confederations Cup just won, made it impossible for teams all over the world to ignore the Chinese team.

After watching the middle and young players demonstrate the ordinary switchback running training again in front of the crowd, the local Argentine media was a little disappointed.

They didn't come here to watch the middle and young players turn back and run, but to spy on the military situation.

Especially the few new stars in the team.

These reporters even took color photos and compared them one by one at the scene.

Like a bunch of bounty hunters.

But Chen Jingang is quite smart.

What he showed the media was just the most ordinary training, even the "stars" were no exception.

Even in front of the reporters, Chen Jingang lectured loudly:
"Don't think that if you play the World Youth Championship, you will be a star."

"Those exploits in the Confederations Cup are the real stars."

"If any of you perform well, maybe you can be transferred to the national team after the game!"

"Look at Shao Jiayi!"

"He was the MVP of the last World Youth Championship."

"What's wrong with this Confederations Cup? We scored two goals in the final!"

The team members were excited.

Winning the Confederations Cup is like a shot in the arm, motivating these young people to fight in foreign countries.

As in the past, the hosts are the favorites to win the championship.

This time, the Chinese team and the Brazilian team were advertised as the biggest opponents of the host country to win the championship.

Especially the Chinese team.

Not to mention the champion of the last World Youth Championship.

In the previous friendly match with Boca Juniors, they defeated their opponents by a big score.

Therefore, local residents also attach great importance to the China Youth Team.

The Aconcagua Hotel, where the China Youth Team stayed, is located in a troubled area and the noise is extremely loud.

In order to ensure rest, many team members have to plug their ears with cotton when they sleep at night.

In fact, the treatment of teams in other countries is similar.

But the Chinese youth team must have received "key care" from the local residents.

On June 6, after the opening ceremony of the World Youth Championship, Argentina beat Finland 17-2 at home.

After the game, the star player of this tournament, Seviola, uttered a statement that ignited the media in an interview with reporters:

"... In this cup match, Argentina's only opponent is the Chinese team!"

"I will do my best to defeat this formidable opponent."

Good guy!
You said that the Chinese team is Argentina's biggest opponent?
What do you think of the Brazilian team next door?
No one knows whether this is a deliberate statement by Seviola, or whether the Chinese team really holds such a heavy place in his heart.

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

The popularity of the Chinese youth team has once again been pushed to the forefront.

With the referee's whistle, the China Youth Team's first match against the US team officially began.

In the 3rd minute of the opening game, Xu Liang made a lob shot from the left sideline, which was confiscated by the opponent's goalkeeper.

Taking advantage of Zeng Zheng's control of passing and running positions in the midfield, the China Youth Team gradually took advantage of the midfield, making it impossible for the US team to organize an effective offense.

It wasn't until the 19th minute that Martino made a cross from the left and forced a corner kick.

But this corner kick did not pose any threat to the China Youth Team.

So far, the Zhongqing team has played 5 successful offenses and has 3 shots.

The strength of the two teams is decisive.

This US team is also known as the strongest youth team in history.

But in front of the Chinese youth team, it was simply vulnerable.

Its strength is not even as good as its opponent in last year's Olympic Games.

Soon, the China Youth Team scored a goal by virtue of their overwhelming tactical advantage.

Through simple continuous passes on the ground, the defender of the US team was played around.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Qu Bo ran out of the open space.

After receiving a pass from Hu Zhaojun, he easily "passed" the ball into the goal and opened the scoring for the China Youth Team.

After scoring a goal, the Zhongqing team became more and more proficient.

In the 39th and 67th minutes, Xu Liang and Yan Song each scored a goal to get off to a good start with a score of 3-0.

On the other side, Ukraine beat Chile 4-2 in Group C.

Judging from the score, this European powerhouse is the biggest opponent of the Chinese youth team.

On June 6, China Youth Team and Ukraine played the second round of Group C at the Malvinas Stadium.

As a powerful Eastern European team, Ukraine was selected as No.2 in the European Youth Championship, and its strength should not be underestimated.

Speaking of Ukraine, the first thing all fans think of is the Ukrainian nuclear warhead-Shevchenko.

Sheva has almost reached the peak of his career in Milan this season. His success has also been called the rise of the younger generation of Ukraine by the media.

"But this season's Serie A champion is Roma."

Zeng Zheng hugged his shoulders in the stands, with a look of disdain on his face.

In the just-concluded final match of Serie A, Roma defeated Parma 3-1, not only did not give Juventus, who was chasing closely, a chance to comeback, but also won the third place in history after 18 years. Serie A champions.

After the game, fans rushed into the stadium and stripped Totti of his clothes and pants.

There are even fans who shred the net, cut the turf, and take everything they can.

For Chinese fans who like Serie A, this season's Serie A league can be described as full of climaxes and exciting events.

Although the Roma team won the championship, it was unexpected, but it is also reasonable.

However, with Rome's free ride, Nakata Hidetoshi became the first Asian player to win the Serie A championship.

After seeing the news, Zhang Xiaorui immediately made a decision to accept Juventus' invitation.

While chatting about Serie A, while watching the China Youth Team's game.

After 90 minutes, the two sides shook hands 0-0 as if they had "colluded" long ago.

Zeng Zheng rubbed his chin, "Lao Chen and Lao Li played a bit conservatively."

"If you lose the next game, you will be in trouble."

A total of 24 teams participated in this World Youth Championship.

While the top two of the 6 groups qualify, the 4 best-performing groups will also qualify for the third place.

This can also understand why after the big victory in the first round, neither the Ukraine nor the China Youth Team wanted to fight against the strongest opponent in the group.

But the problem is that in the third game, Ukraine played against the weakest team in the group, the United States, and the Chinese youth team played against the strong South American team Chile.

Although losing still has a high chance of qualifying, the grouping of the top eight is very passive.

After a brief analysis, Zeng Zheng decided that it would be best to remind Chen Jingang and others.

(End of this chapter)