Chapter 321 - 314: I Will Not Give Him Any Chance

Tilburg, Netherlands. The FIFA U-20 World Cup training ground.

After advancing from the group stage with three straight wins, the Chinese Team quickly moved from Utrecht to Tilburg.

Upon arriving in Tilburg, Klauen immediately led the team to the training ground.

Their opponent for the round of 16 knockout stage had been decided: Klauen’s home country, the Germany Team.

The National Youth Team had played a friendly match against the Germany Team before, ending in a two-two draw where neither side could gain an advantage.

But that time, the National Youth Team didn’t have Yang Yang.

The three consecutive wins hadn’t made the National Youth Team lose their heads. In the subsequent group stage debrief, Yang Yang, speaking as the player representative, was the first to point out the team’s defensive issues. He believed this would be the biggest obstacle to their further progress.

Klauen also stated that he already had a complete plan to improve their defense.

After arriving in Tilburg, Klauen implemented a closed training camp, refusing any interference from outside media and reporters.

Focusing on defensive training, Klauen had the players practice the overall operation and coherence of the defensive system. The point he stressed the most was not to press blindly, but to work together as a unit and maintain a tight, cohesive shape.

"Individual defending is not only ineffective, but it also constantly wastes our stamina. Only by defending as a unit can we properly protect our goal!"

Since many of the concepts Klauen emphasized were very similar to those at Ajax, Yang Yang took the initiative to act as a translator and commentator, personally conveying Klauen’s intentions to the players, especially to Feng Xiaoting, who Klauen had designated as the defensive leader.

To better help Feng Xiaoting grasp Klauen’s intentions and command the team’s defense, Yang Yang once again used the same trick he had used to help Zheng Zhi. Combining video footage and analysis reports from his laptop, he explained to Feng Xiaoting how to be the core pillar of the defense and how to ensure the ball was played out from the back.

Besides the Germany Team’s open-play attack, set pieces would also be their secret weapon to win, as their height gave them an overwhelming advantage. This was the Germany Team’s most obvious strength.

"The Germany Team has strong cohesion. Technically, they’re relatively average, but their tactical awareness is very mature. Their physicality and impact make them the most powerful team in this FIFA U-20 World Cup. Therefore, set pieces will be their most threatening method of attack."

Klauen specifically designed set-piece defensive drills to counter this point.

The final part of the training focused on how the Chinese Team would defeat their opponent.

The strategy Klauen gave was to control the midfield and fully utilize Yang Yang’s advantages on the attack.

Gao Lin’s performance in the first three group stage matches had already earned the recognition of everyone on the team, including Yang Yang. Although he didn’t seem to score many goals, his tactical role as a tall center forward was quite evident.

Chen Tao’s performance on the right wing was also outstanding. For this match, Klauen clearly didn’t want Yang Yang to directly confront the Germany Team’s defenders, but rather hoped he would attack more by making late runs from deep.

As for the crucial midfield arrangement, Klauen decided to field a more technical, possession-based midfield.

From the pre-match drills, it was easy to see that the midfield combination of Hao Junmin, Cui Peng, and Zhou Haibin was the one most approved by Klauen, and also the most possession-oriented midfield trio the National Youth Team could field at present.

Among them, Cui Peng from Shandong had also put in a rather brilliant performance in this FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Beyond the tactical level, Klauen was also meticulous about technical details. For example, he personally went onto the pitch to teach the players how to deal with the German players’ pressing. The thing he emphasized most was making a sharp turn immediately after receiving the ball.

"The German players have a height advantage, but they turn slowly. We have an advantage in this aspect. As long as you can turn, you can immediately create a local numerical advantage."

These seemingly simple and basic things, in fact, brought great benefits to the National Youth Team players.

...

...

Due to limited training facilities, the Chinese Team and the Germany Team shared a training ground, coordinating their schedules with each other.

However, the Germany Team showed up twenty minutes earlier than the agreed-upon time.

The training complex had three pitches, but after arriving early, the Germany Team didn’t go directly to another pitch to train. Instead, they stood on the sidelines, watching the Chinese Team’s session with great interest.

And the one the German players were most curious about was, of course, the Chinese Team’s number one star, Yang Yang.

But they couldn’t find any sign of Yang Yang in the main group. Instead, they saw him playing with the substitutes.

This couldn’t help but leave the entire Germany Team feeling puzzled.

Yang Yang didn’t play against Panama, and no clear reason was given to the public. And now he was placed in the substitute group. What was the meaning of this?

"They’ve deliberately mixed up the groups. They just don’t want us to figure out their starting lineup," Germany’s head coach, Schibe, said with a laugh. It was just a common pre-match trick.

Everyone knew it was impossible for Yang Yang not to play. He was the core of the Chinese Team’s strength.

Not only were the lineups mixed up, but even the training content was nothing special. It all looked like some ordinary group scrimmages. At most, you could get a glimpse of the Chinese players’ abilities, but you couldn’t discern any specific tactics.

On the contrary, when Yang Yang made a quick run, forcefully broke through the defense, used a Pendulum Move to dribble past the Goalkeeper, and tapped the ball into the empty net, he won thunderous applause from on and off the pitch. Even the German players on the sidelines applauded.

"Hey, nice one, Yang!"

"A Pendulum Move! That was brilliant!"

But the German players’ commotion quickly attracted the attention of a FIFA official, who immediately walked over and reminded them not to interfere with the Chinese Team’s training. Only then did the group of German players nonchalantly head over to the adjacent training pitch.

But head coach Schibe’s expression was grave as he solemnly instructed his players.

"During the match, no matter what, you must shut Yang Yang down completely. Don’t give him any chances. He will be the Chinese Team’s deadliest blade. I want him completely locked down!"

The Germany Team’s captain, René Adler, who played for Bundesliga’s Bayer 04 Leverkusen, turned around. Frowning at Yang Yang in the distance, he replied in a low voice, "Don’t worry, I won’t give him any chances!"

...

...

「Tilburg William II Stadium.」

FIFA U-20 World Cup, round of 16 knockout stage: China versus Germany.

To everyone’s surprise, the seemingly powerful Germany Team did not push forward to attack as many had predicted. Instead, after the kickoff, they actively and cautiously tightened their defensive line.

Fierce pressing, solid team defense, and a clear physical advantage—all these factors plunged the Chinese Team into a tough battle right from the start, especially for their attacking players up front.

"Even before the match, Germany’s head coach Schibe stated that the attacking power the Chinese Team displayed in the group stage was worthy of caution. The Germany Team, on the other hand, didn’t show much on the attacking end during their group stage. But no one expected him to use a defensive counter-attacking strategy against the Chinese Team. This is truly quite surprising."

"The Germany Team has also clearly done their homework on defending against Yang Yang."

"Looking at the three group stage matches, defense has always been the Germany Team’s strength. They only conceded one goal in three rounds, and that was to the Argentina Team. In contrast, the Chinese Team’s ability to emerge from the group stage with three straight wins was built on their offense."

"So, this match might be a bit of a surprise for the fans."

"The seemingly powerful Germany Team is actually playing a defensive counter-attacking style against the supposedly weaker Chinese Team."

"But we absolutely can’t let our guard down, because a Germany Team that plays on the counter-attack is the most terrifying Germany Team of all!"

...

The commentary from the National Television broadcast back home couldn’t be heard at the William II Stadium.

But the National Youth Team didn’t need any outside reminders; they had a very clear understanding of the situation.

The Germany Team was using a 4-4-2 formation, but they deliberately compressed their three lines. Their intention was also very clear: to shut down Yang Yang.

Yang Yang himself had a clear understanding of this as well.

For this match, Klauen had set them up in a 4-3-3 formation. Yang Yang was positioned on the left, Gao Lin was the center forward, and Chen Tao was on the right. The midfield was a combination of Hao Junmin, Cui Peng, and Zhou Haibin.

In reality, however, both Yang Yang and Chen Tao were positioned much deeper, with the aim of securing control of the midfield.

From the start of the match, the Chinese Team smoothly controlled possession of the ball, holding an advantage in possession percentage.

The Germany Team was mainly defending around the halfway line, not dropping too deep, but their pressing was very aggressive. Their advantage in one-on-one defending was obvious, which made it difficult for the Chinese Team to organize effective link-up play.

The fluid, ground-based penetration they had shown in the first three group stage matches was difficult to replicate against the Germany Team, and their offense seemed to have hit a wall.

The Germany Team, in contrast, had no advantage in possession, but they were dominant in physical confrontations. Once they got close, it was easy for them to win the ball back. As soon as they did, they immediately launched a counter-attack in behind, fully utilizing the speed of their forwards.

In the opening phase, both teams played in a somewhat chaotic manner. At first, Yang Yang was very active on the left flank, but the Germany Team quickly committed more players to their own right side. As soon as Yang Yang got the ball, he was immediately put under tight marking by the Germany Team.

Yang Yang was already mentally prepared for this situation.

Seeing that the midfield was having trouble playing the ball out, he immediately took the initiative to drop back and receive the ball from his midfield teammates.

In the nineteenth minute, Yang Yang dropped back to receive a pass from the midfield, then suddenly turned to shake off his marker. He dribbled forward along the left flank, drawing the entire German defense’s attention to his side, before suddenly launching a long ball over to the right wing.

Chen Tao was already poised and ready. After controlling the ball with his chest, he carried it down the right wing to the byline and sent in a cross.

Lurking inside the box, Gao Lin got into position in the center and met the ball with a header, aiming for the far corner. But the Germany Team’s Goalkeeper, René Adler, made a diving save to parry the ball away, conceding a corner kick to the Chinese Team.

But this spectacular diving save earned Adler a round of applause from the entire stadium.

The young German Goalkeeper, however, paid it no mind. He began directing his teammates for the corner kick defense, looking every bit the part of a commanding general.

When Adler looked at Yang Yang again, the tall German Goalkeeper couldn’t help but feel a little puzzled.

’Isn’t Yang Yang supposed to be a goalscorer?’

’How has it been twenty minutes into the game without him taking a single shot? He looks more like a midfielder.’

’Is this Klauen’s arrangement?’

’Hmm, he has made a few good passes, though. Especially that long switch of play just now, that was very creative.’

’But can this be all he’s capable of?’

Adler definitely didn’t think so. After all, Yang Yang was the European Golden Boy Award winner, the UEFA Cup’s best player, the Eredivisie’s Golden Boot Award winner, and a genius renowned throughout European Football who had broken Ronaldo’s legendary record at the age of eighteen.

’So, is he being shut down by our defense?’