Chapter 50 Reporting to the National Team "Lin Feng was recruited by the national team? Is this true?" "The full list has been announced, how could this be false?" "That's amazing! Brother Linzi accidentally created the record of the youngest national team player. If he can play in the East Asian Four Finals, even as a substitute, he can set another record for the youngest player to appear in the national team!" "Records and such are not important. What's important is that we are going to beat Japan and South Korea on the field this time. Didn't they clamor before that they wanted us to see how powerful they are?" "Yes, I remember that Keisuke Honda from the Japanese team once said something cruel, saying that the Chinese national team could win the World Youth Championship only because they didn't meet the Japanese team in advance. If they met the Japanese team, they would beat the shit out of the Chinese national team. Haha, this time I want to see how this guy is going to beat the shit out of the Chinese team!" The Japanese team also participated in the World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. Keisuke Honda was the main player of this Japanese national youth team, but they lost to Morocco early in the quarter-finals and were eliminated. "Honda Keisuke is nothing but a clown. He has just been selected for the Japanese national team and it is not certain whether he can play. However, there are many big-name stars in this Japanese team, especially their midfield star Hidetoshi Nakata. He is someone we cannot underestimate!" "Isn't Nakata Hidetoshi coming? Didn't the Japanese Football Association say they wouldn't recruit overseas players?" "Really? Are the Japanese so arrogant? I heard that the Football Association attaches great importance to this semi-final match and is negotiating with Munich 1860 where Shao Jiayi is, asking them to let the players come back to play in the match. If the Japanese team underestimates the enemy, then we may really be able to defeat them this time!"
The number and quality of Japan's overseas players are quite good, and they are considered first-class in Asia. Among them are Koji Nakata who plays for Marseille in Ligue 1, Hidetoshi Nakata who plays for Fiorentina in Serie A, Atsushi Yanagisawa of Messina, and Junichi Inamoto who plays for Cardiff City in the Championship. The two teams have a deep historical grudge, and Chinese fans absolutely hate the Japanese team. However, the Chinese national football team was not strong enough to beat the opponent, which resulted in the resentment having nowhere to vent and eventually backfired on itself. It can be said that the current public opinion dilemma of the Chinese national football team is closely related to their loss to the Japanese team in the Asian Cup final held in their home country. If we can take revenge this time, then Chinese football will be able to wipe out the shame of the past and may even be able to reverse public opinion. At that time, no trophies or honors will matter. As long as we can defeat the Japanese and Korean teams, it will be worth it! In fact, before the 60s, Chinese football was able to suppress the Japanese team on the field because it developed relatively early, and even remained unbeaten against Japan for years. But by the 1980s, Japan's rise was already somewhat unstoppable. 从1981年到2005年，这24年间中国队和日本队一共交手18次，中国队仅取得5胜3平10负的战绩，胜算已经不到3成了。 而中国队最后一次战胜日本队，还是7年前在1998年5月7日举行的东亚四强赛中，中国队靠着黎斌的两粒进球，2:0击败了日本队。 Since then, the Chinese team has found it difficult to win against the Japanese team, and even a draw is a luxury. Japanese football has become an insurmountable mountain for Chinese football. The seven-year losing streak even caused many Chinese national football players and fans to develop Japanophobia. Although he really wanted to defeat the Japanese team and take revenge, he had no confidence in his own abilities and was afraid of facing the Japanese team on the field. In fact, when it comes to Japanophobia, the Chinese national football team’s Koreaphobia is truly incurable. Since the first match in 1978, the Chinese national football team has not won a game against the South Korean team for 27 years. Even if we shamelessly include the 1986 Nehru Gold Cup when the Chinese team defeated the South Korean team, which was mainly composed of college players, it has been 19 years since China last won against South Korea. Compared with the Japanese team, the South Korean team is really the victim among the Chinese national football team. The South Korean team, with its tough style of play, abundant physical strength, fierce fighting and strong discipline, naturally restrains the Chinese team in terms of their playing style.
In addition, South Korea's professional league developed earlier, and there are more players studying abroad, including some ceiling-level stars among Asian players such as Cha Bum-kun. This makes the Korean team always ahead of the Chinese team in terms of hard power. When the Chinese team meets the Korean team, it is really like a father beating his son, and we are the one being beaten. The Korean team, like the Japanese team, also did not choose to recall a large number of players who studied abroad in this East Asian Cup. Although the East Asian Four Nations Tournament is an A-level competition and the outcome can directly affect FIFA's points and rankings, neither Koreans nor Japanese take it seriously. Perhaps in their view, even if they do not recall overseas players, they can still easily defeat the Chinese national team with their local players. In their eyes, Chinese football is at best second-rate in Asia and is not at the same level as them. If that’s the case, why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken? The fans of the Chinese national football team are actually well aware of this, and they also understand the strength of the current national football team. Before the game, there were really not many fans who were optimistic about the Chinese national team defeating the Japanese and South Korean teams. Everyone's biggest wish was not to lose again. Of course, it would be even better if we could really beat the Japanese or Korean teams. Even if China defeats Japan and South Korea, which have no overseas players, it will have great positive significance for Chinese football. At least it will allow the fans of the Chinese football team to vent the anger that has been suppressed in their hearts for a long time. …… "Lao Zhao, Brother Chen, what's the situation with the national team?" Lin Feng was very surprised when he learned that he was suddenly recruited by the national team. The Chinese national football team did not notify him in advance, so he was not prepared at all. But being able to join the national team and even play for the national team is definitely good news for Lin Feng. Now he urgently needs to play in the national team, so that he can activate the functions of the system more quickly and increase the development of existing modules. The Serie A is about to start. In order to cope with the various opponents and challenges on multiple fronts in the new season, Lin Feng needs to constantly improve his strength. If the development of the Kaka template can be accelerated, coupled with Lin Feng's own rigorous and self-disciplined hard training, his growth rate will be very fast, and he will be more confident to gain a foothold in the Serie A league. So, after confirming the authenticity of the news, Lin Feng immediately contacted Zhao Xuri and Chen Tao to ask them for information about the national team. Both of them have been selected for the national team before, and Zhao Xuri has even played as a substitute. Currently, the record for the youngest appearance for the Chinese team was broken by Zhao Xuri. Although they can only be considered marginal players in the national team, they have at least been in the national team and know the national team players. Compared to them, Lin Feng had never come into contact with those people, and didn't know much about their tempers, personalities, and the factions behind them. Some of what he knew were just hearsay reports he got from the media in his previous life, and their accuracy was questionable. Hearing Lin Feng's question, Chen Tao and Zhao Xuri patiently introduced him. After listening to the two people's introduction, Lin Feng couldn't help but frowned. The current Chinese national football team is really like a shallow pond with many turtles and a small temple with strong demons! The internal situation was more complicated than he had imagined. Forget it, just consider it as an opportunity to increase my qualifications! If this group of people is really unreliable, at least they, the 85 generation, can take their place. As long as the Chinese national youth team can achieve good results in the Olympics three years later and gain a foothold in the top five leagues, it will not be difficult to completely replace these people in the future.
After packing up his things, explaining the situation to the club and asking for leave, Lin Feng took the nearest flight back home. Officially report to the national team! (End of this chapter)