Chapter 14 Youth Version of AC Milan 2005年6月28日，17：30. In the semi-finals of the World Youth Championship in the Netherlands, the match between China and Argentina officially started. Since the two teams in the other half of the zone are relatively weak, this game is considered by many to be the real final of this World Youth Championship. Whoever wins this game will be the final champion! Due to the presence of Messi, this game has attracted widespread attention across Europe. As Barcelona's youth training treasure, future core, and the future king of football chosen by countless football legends, Messi's influence in European football is extraordinary. Countless fans came here specifically for Messi. They held up banners and slogans in support of Messi in the stands. Some even held up portraits of Messi like fanatical religious believers. But this is of no use! Even though they outnumber others, the Chinese have never been afraid of anyone! The total number of European fans and Argentine fans present was less than half of the number of Chinese national football fans. The fans of the Chinese national football team once again turned this stadium into their home ground! A large number of fans came from all over the country just to cheer for their own team on the spot! No one can stop the enthusiasm of Chinese fans! When the national anthem was sung before the game started, the loud and majestic voice echoed over the stadium, shocking the group of foreigners.
The Chinese football fans straightened their chests with pride, and were not inferior in momentum at all. You have Messi, I have Lin Feng and Chen Tao, why are you so arrogant? Due to his outstanding performance in the first two games, especially the last game against Brazil, Lin Feng is now somewhat famous in European football. Therefore, this match was hyped by many media as a peak showdown between two top talents. Some people even felt that the result of this match might very well affect the winner of the Golden Boy Award to be presented in the second half of the year. Although Messi is very famous, he has just been promoted to the first team by Rijkaard. Messi made nine appearances for the first team last season and scored just one goal. Such data is obviously not impressive, and it is almost impossible to compete for the Golden Boy Award with such data. So he urgently needs a significant championship trophy to help him win this year's Golden Boy Trophy. Nothing could be more suitable than the World Youth Championship trophy! This is the best stage for young players, and defeating all competitors here is undoubtedly the best way to prove themselves. The same goes for Lin Feng, if he can lead the team to defeat Messi and win the World Youth Championship. Then the Golden Boy Award is no longer something out of reach for him. Lin Feng on the field did not think that far. Let alone the Golden Boy Award, even if the Golden Ball Award was in front of him, it would not be as important as winning this game. No matter how many honors he wins personally, he may not be able to save the Chinese national football team. But if the Chinese national youth team could win the World Youth Championship, the result might be different. …… "CCTV, CCTV, you are now watching the live broadcast of the 2005 World Youth Championship semi-final between China and Argentina." In the CCTV studio, Huang Jianxiang quickly introduced the starting lineups of both sides. The starting lineup for the National Youth Team is: 16-杨程；4-郑涛、2-赵铭、5-冯潇霆、17-谭望嵩；20-崔鹏、10-陈涛、7-赵旭日、8-周海滨、23-林风、11-朱挺. On the front line, Krauchen did not choose Dong Fangzhuo, nor Gao Lin who started in the previous games, but chose Zhu Ting who is fast and has strong running ability.
Coupled with Lin Feng, who is also known for his speed, it is obvious that the National Youth Team intends to play a defensive counterattack in this game. Argentina's starting lineup today did not change much from the previous game, with only some adjustments made to some positions. For example, putting Gago in the starting lineup has a clear intention, which is to increase the intensity of the midfield's stranglehold. Gago performed very well in the last match between Argentina and Spain. Under the crazy attack of him and his teammates, the luxurious midfield of the Spanish team fell into chaos. Fabregas, David Silva and others were completely frozen, and they were eventually eliminated by Argentina. In this game, the Argentine coach obviously wanted to replicate the style of play from the previous game, because the Chinese team also has two outstanding midfielders. But after the game started, he was a little dumbfounded. "Why did the opponent's No. 10 move to the defensive midfielder position? Wasn't he the attacking midfielder at the beginning?" Not only was he a little confused, but even the fans of the National Youth Team were confused. At first, they just thought Chen Tao was retreating to receive the ball, but they didn't expect him to stay here and not leave! "Why did Chen Tao retreat so far?" "Brothers, I'm a little confused. Is Chen Tao an attacking midfielder or a defensive midfielder now?" "It should be...midfielder, right?" "Why does this formation look a bit like Ancelotti's Christmas tree formation?" …… Facts have proved that Krauchen was not just talking, he really copied AC Milan's style of play. Even AC Milan's iconic 4321 Christmas tree formation was copied. After watching the match between Argentina and Spain, he guessed that the opponent would target his midfield, especially Chen Tao. Chen Tao's physical confrontation ability is not outstanding. If he is really entangled by the opponent, his performance will definitely plummet. Coincidentally, Pirlo often encountered this problem in AC Milan, so Ancelotti moved him from the attacking midfielder position to the back. But the defensive midfielder has to take on defensive tasks, and Pirlo himself does not have much defensive ability. So Ancelotti paired Pirlo with a butcher named Gattuso to protect Pirlo. Isn't this a coincidence? The Chinese National Youth Team just happens to have a Chinese version of Gattuso - Cui Peng! Of course, there is still a big gap between the Chinese version of Gattuso and the original Gattuso. So Krauchen arranged Zhao Xuri to the defensive midfielder position to further strengthen the protection of Chen Tao. You want to strangle Chen Tao, right? Let’s get past his two bodyguards first! After the game started, Gago was numb! The opponent ran so far and retreated so deep, and he was protected by a large number of teammates. On the other hand, he was alone in the deep trenches, unable to hold on by himself, how could he steal the goods? What made his scalp tingle even more was that he had no choice but to rob. If you ignore him, Chen Tao can use his broad vision and accurate passing to continuously deliver ammunition to his teammates in the national youth team's frontcourt.
It just so happens that the three front line players of the national youth team are all very fast players. Whenever they sprint, the entire Argentine team is nervous, fearing that they will follow in the footsteps of the Brazilian team. Gago was angry and called out to his teammates, urging everyone to grab their weapons and attack together! There is strength in numbers, and this saying is true. With so many people rushing forward, it would be useless even if Chen Tao brought two bodyguards. But according to the law of conservation of numbers, if there are more people in one area of the court, then there will definitely be fewer people in another area. When the Argentine team deployed heavy troops to surround and snatch Chen Tao, Lin Feng, who was in the attacking midfielder position, was freed up. He had plenty of space in front of him to use. And making use of space is what Kaka is best at! Is Kaka strong? Of course it’s strong, even ridiculously strong! But is Kaka difficult to defend? In fact, it is not difficult. As long as you don’t give him enough space to move forward and don’t let him fully exert his speed, it will be easy to defend him. But once there is space everywhere on the court and there is a top midfielder like Pirlo to assist behind him. Kaka is almost a nightmare on earth. No one can stop him unless he is fouled! Even fouls have to be committed early, otherwise if he starts running, you won't be able to catch up with him. Now, Lin Feng is waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity for a perfect counterattack! (End of this chapter)