Chapter 323 - 316: Who Could Have Guessed?

The Chinese Team pulls off a shocking upset, defeating Germany two-nil!

When the results from the first day of the FIFA U-20 World Cup’s round of sixteen were released, it once again sent shockwaves through the global media. All the fans following the tournament were utterly astonished, some even in disbelief.

China eliminated Germany? And with a clean two-nil victory?

Are you sure they didn’t get it backward?

Once the media and fans confirmed the news, they were all left in a state of shock.

For a long time, the United States has been known as a football desert; the sport isn’t mainstream in the global superpower.

But the situation in China wasn’t much better.

As a major economic power with the world’s fifth-largest GDP, China’s football team was ranked somewhere outside the top several dozen in the world.

In 2002, after decades of effort, they finally squeezed their way into the World Cup, only to be placed in the same group as future champions Brazil and third-place finishers Turkey. The result was three straight losses without scoring a single goal, ending in a humiliating elimination.

In the two years that followed, Chinese Football went into a massive decline, plagued by constant scandals.

In the eyes of the world’s media and fans, Chinese Football had become almost synonymous with weakness and incompetence.

But since when was Chinese Football capable of producing such a stunning result on the world stage?

Three consecutive wins in the group stage, eliminating European runners-up Turkey and defeating Ukraine and Panama. With a perfect record, they became the first team to advance from the group stage at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, their attacking firepower second only to Spain.

If their group stage opponents weren’t convincing enough, then defeating Germany by two goals in the round of sixteen was an ironclad fact—and the most shocking result of all.

That was Germany, a traditional world powerhouse, nicknamed the German Tank!

They actually lost two-nil to the Chinese Team?

It wasn’t just the global media and reporters who were shocked. When the news reached China, the fans back home couldn’t believe it either. Years of accumulated weakness had made it difficult for them to even imagine the team rising to prominence again.

Defeating Germany?

That was practically a distant dream.

But it had actually become a reality!

All the Chinese fans were startled, unable to believe it. They checked and rechecked the news, terrified it was just a rumor started by some unscrupulous domestic media outlet. As a result, the most frequently asked question online was, "Did China really beat Germany?"

Only after repeated confirmation did everyone erupt in ecstatic cheers and celebrate with wild abandon. Some couldn’t even hold back their tears of joy.

The quarter-finals! The National Youth Team had actually made it to the quarter-finals!

Who could have predicted it? Who would have thought it? Who would have dared to imagine it?

The fans back home were in a complete frenzy!

The excitement from the senior National Team qualifying for the World Cup in Germany hadn’t even faded yet, and now the National Youth Team had beaten Germany in the FIFA U-20 World Cup to reach the quarter-finals. This once again sent the domestic fans into a state of euphoria, with countless media outlets and fans singing the National Youth Team’s praises.

National Television and major state-run newspapers also featured this major football event prominently, noting that the National Youth Team had matched their best-ever performance from twenty years ago by once again reaching the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

As the team’s top scorer, Yang Yang also received fervent praise from the domestic media and fans.

His five goals put him tied for first place on the top scorers’ chart with Spain’s Llorente and Ukraine’s Aliyev, and Ukraine had already been eliminated.

Behind Yang Yang were Spain’s David Silva and Italy’s center-forward Pelle, both of whom had scored four goals.

What excited the Chinese fans even more was that the Chinese Team was the only team from the Asian Region to break into the quarter-finals.

In contrast, the South Korea Team was knocked out in the group stage, Japan lost one-nil to Morocco in the knockout round, and Syria lost one-nil to Brazil. Neither of the other two Asian teams made it past the round of sixteen.

But the Chinese Team, powered by an assist and a goal from Yang Yang, had defeated Germany two-nil.

When analyzing this match in detail, everyone was deeply impressed by the National Youth Team’s defense.

In a post-match interview with National Television, National Youth Team head coach Klauen stated that he had focused on drilling defensive tactics before the game, and the players executed them perfectly during the match. He added that Feng Xiaoting was exceptionally stable on the backline.

Klauen gave Yang Yang’s performance the highest praise, believing that the team’s number one star had played a crucial role.

"I’ve always believed that Yang Yang immensely elevates the entire team’s strength. He is an incredible player with strong tactical discipline and superb individual skill, which makes him a considerable threat during a match. Moreover, he’s very versatile and can play multiple positions and fill different roles."

Besides Yang Yang, Klauen also made special mention of Gao Lin, considering the tall center-forward an essential part of the team’s outstanding performance.

His tireless running, aggressive pressing in the attacking third, solid fundamentals, excellent and stable ball control, combined with his outstanding physique—which was not at all inferior even when facing German defenders—all earned Gao Lin Klauen’s approval.

It wasn’t just the Chinese head coach. In FIFA’s official rankings, Yang Yang was hailed as the undisputed number one star of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The eighteen-year-old prodigy, who had just broken Ronaldo’s legendary record in the Eredivisie and won the UEFA Cup’s Best Player award, was the most-watched star of the tournament.

As for Gao Lin, FIFA also gave him high praise, considering him one of the three most tactically influential center-forwards in the FIFA U-20 World Cup so far. The other two were Spain’s tall center-forward Llorente and Italy’s tall center-forward Pelle.

Another player from the Chinese Team highly recognized by FIFA was Feng Xiaoting. Whether it was his multiple long-dribbling runs during the group stage, his solid defense against the Germany Team, or his commanding presence while marshalling the backline, it all made Feng Xiaoting the most eye-catching center-back of the tournament, attracting the attention of numerous European Teams.

National Youth Team players like Hao Junmin, Zhou Haibin, Chen Tao, and Cui Peng also received praise and recognition.

Everyone believed that it was the outstanding performance of these players, combined with Klauen’s coaching and integration, that enabled the National Youth Team to play such brilliant attacking football in this FIFA U-20 World Cup.

And their excellent performance also began to attract more and more attention from the media and scouts.

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The day after the match against Germany, when the National Youth Team returned to the training ground for a recovery session, they were surprised to find a large crowd of media reporters and fans gathered outside.

The spectacle took the National Youth Team players completely by surprise.

There weren’t this many people even when Yang Yang first rejoined the team for training.

Without a doubt, Yang Yang was still the most popular player—that much was clear from the enthusiastic reaction of the reporters and fans when he appeared—but the other players also received a warm welcome.

In the past, the spectators at their training sessions were usually Chinese media and fans. Today, however, was clearly different. At least half of them were foreign media and fans, something the National Youth Team players could never have imagined.

Since when did these foreign media and fans pay so much attention to Chinese Football?

"A lot of those ’fans’ are scouts," Yang Yang quietly reminded his teammates.

This immediately made the National Youth Team players a bit nervous.

Scouts from European Clubs?

After the National Youth Team defeated Germany, the head of the Football Association, who was traveling with the team, personally promised that the association would do its utmost to support the players in moving to clubs abroad. They were even willing to step in and help coordinate with the clubs.

Clearly, they had all seen the impact of players who played overseas.

Yang Yang thought this was a good thing.

’To be blunt, it doesn’t matter what the Football Association’s motives are. Whether it’s for promotions and personal gain or a genuine desire to improve the level of Chinese Football, as long as they are willing to do things that actually benefit the sport’s development, it’s a good thing.’

’It’s only human nature, after all.’

’Is it really necessary to demand that they all have some profound love for football and selflessly dedicate themselves to the development of Chinese Football, like some unscrupulous reporters claim?’

’Why must we hold others to such high moral standards?’

’The Football Association, the players, the head coach—it’s the same for everyone.’

’Besides, the Chinese media often ignores a simple fact: Chinese Football is poor.’

’Japan began to vigorously develop football in the nineties, and back then, their economy was, needless to say, flush with cash.’

’In contrast, China’s economy has indeed developed rapidly in recent years, but the country isn’t wealthy. At the very least, Chinese Football isn’t wealthy, and Chinese clubs aren’t wealthy, which makes many things simply impossible to achieve.’

’Youth development costs money, running the league costs money, operating a club costs money... and then there are certain special, unspoken reasons...’

’I remember it most vividly from last year’s Toulon Cup. The entire team had so many people, yet they brought so little money. Then there was the World Cup qualifier against Kuwait. China didn’t even have a direct flight to the Middle East; they had to fly via Amsterdam and then back to the Middle East. It was a huge hassle, and to put it bluntly, it was because we couldn’t afford to charter a plane.’

’One word—poverty—combined with the fact that football itself isn’t widespread in China, has led to the current situation.’

But now, Yang Yang was also beginning to feel that as the nation’s strength and economy had grown over the years, the government and all sectors of society were paying more attention to football. Furthermore, the humiliating experience of the World Cup had prompted everyone to start reflecting.

’As a player, there’s actually very little I can do for Chinese Football,’ he thought.

’The only thing I can do is fulfill my duty as a professional player and give my all in every single match.’

’If possible, I hope I can use this FIFA U-20 World Cup to bring a glimmer of hope to Chinese Football and to all the fans across the country.’

At this thought, Yang Yang took a deep breath, composed himself, and clapped his hands loudly to rally his teammates.

"Alright, alright, everyone get ready for training!"

Hearing this, the captain, Feng Xiaoting, also snapped out of it. They couldn’t afford to embarrass themselves in front of the foreign media and scouts, so he immediately called for the team to start preparing for the session.

Today’s training was mainly a recovery session. It would be open to the public for fifteen minutes, followed by a closed-door session primarily aimed at continuing to drill the team’s overall offensive and defensive tactics, as well as preparing tactically for their next opponent.

Having overcome the Germany Team, the Chinese Team’s next opponent was Spain, from the same side of the bracket!