Chapter 51: First meeting with the national team Lin Feng's schedule is very low-key, but many fans in China have been following his movements since the Chinese national football team announced the 23-man roster. When Lin Feng arrived at the Capital International Airport, there were actually quite a few fans waiting in the reception hall. "It's Lin Feng, Lin Feng is here!" "Lin Feng, I'm your fan, please sign an autograph for me!" "Lin Feng, go to the national team and do your best to defeat the Japanese and Koreans!" Seeing Lin Feng coming out of the airport reception channel, the nearby fans rushed towards him excitedly. Everyone gathered around Lin Feng, talking to each other and making various requests. Lin Feng saw that there were not many people coming and he was not in a hurry. So he met the fans' requests for autographs and photos one by one, which surprised the fans who came to the airport to pick him up, and they praised Lin Feng's approachable personality.
He is handsome, capable, and has a good personality. Who wouldn’t like such a person? Even passers-by who passed by here, seeing so many people surrounding a young handsome man, mistook Lin Feng for a big star and subconsciously stopped to watch. Some people even joined in to watch the fun. Seeing that more and more people were coming, Lin Feng didn't dare to stay at the airport. After signing autographs for the last few fans, he dragged his suitcase and left quickly, making the fans who rushed to the airport after hearing the news regret it so much that they almost broke their thighs. "Alas, it's just a little bit off. If I had known that Lin Feng was really taking this flight, I would have come here early in the morning!" A fan who arrived late had a look of regret on his face. Several other fans who arrived later felt the same way: "It doesn't matter. The national football team's training base is in Xianghe, Hebei. If we miss it this time, we can just go to Xianghe and ask for it again!" Outside the Xianghe base, when Lin Feng arrived, many national team players had already arrived in advance. Outside the training base, Lin Feng saw Zheng Zhi who had just arrived. Judging from Zheng Zhi's tired look, he obviously came from abroad. He had just recently joined Charlton Athletic in the Premier League and should have been training with the team in preparation for the new season. But as soon as he received the call from the national football team, Zheng Zhi immediately asked for leave from Charlton and set off to return to China to participate in the East Asian Four Finals. Even though doing so would leave a bad impression in the eyes of Charlton's head coach and even affect his position and playing time in the team in the new season, he did not complain at all. When he saw Zheng Zhi, Lin Feng felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity in his heart. This old captain, who played for the Chinese team for nearly 20 years and retired at the age of 40, is definitely a benchmark figure in Chinese football. But unfortunately, he was born at the wrong time and happened to encounter an era when the Chinese national football team's performance was in overall decline. Recalling the last time Zheng Zhi played for the national team in 2019, when he burst into tears and apologized to the fans after the defeat in the Asian Cup, I felt a lump in my throat. It was Chinese football that delayed him, not him that dragged down Chinese football. After his retirement, the Chinese team no longer has a top midfielder. Zheng Zhi also saw Lin Feng at this time, so he walked over with a smile:
"Haha, is this your first time at Xianghe Base?" Lin Feng smiled and nodded: "Luckily I met you, Brother Zheng, here, otherwise I wouldn't even be able to find the entrance." "Haha, come on, follow me, I'll take you in!" Zheng Zhi felt very comfortable when Lin Feng called him "Brother Zheng". He put his hand on his shoulder and walked with him towards the entrance of the training base while chatting. "Xiao Lin, I watched your game in the World Youth Championship. You played really well and won the championship that we never dared to think about before. In one word, awesome!" Zheng Zhi gave Lin Feng a thumbs up as he spoke, and Lin Feng quickly said modestly: "These are all thanks to my teammates. I just made my own insignificant small contribution!" "Haha, 4 goals in 6 games, top scorer in the World Youth Championship, is this still a trivial contribution?" Zheng Zhi pointed at Lin Feng and scolded with a smile: "You are not honest!" "Oh, Old Zheng is here, and our little star Lin Feng is here too!" As soon as I walked into the training base, I saw a tall player with an honest look. The first time Lin Feng saw the other person, he recognized his identity - Shao Jiayi who played for Munich 1860! Shao Jiayi is the main midfielder of the Chinese national football team. At last year's Asian Cup, he scored 3 goals for the national football team and was selected into the best team of that Asian Cup along with Zhao Junzhe and Zheng Zhi. "Since you, Lao Shao, know him, I won't introduce him any further. Xiao Lin, this is your Brother Shao!" Shao Jiayi waved his hand: "You forgot, I play in the German second division, and this kid also played in the German second division before. We played against each other on the field. I knew him earlier than you!" "Oh, so you two have known each other for a long time, that's even better. Xiaolin, you should get along better with your brother Shao, so that he can feed you more cakes on the field!" When Shao Jia heard the two people's loud conspiracy, he was suddenly at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "Isn't it you who is primarily responsible for organizing the pass? If we need to feed the ball to the striker, we have to find you!" Zheng Zhi said calmly: "Of course I will pass the ball to him, and I will pass it to him more often. Otherwise, if we let this kid stay in the midfield, wouldn't we old guys be squeezed out?" Shao Jiayi laughed out loud and pointed at Zheng Zhi until he bent over with laughter. You, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, actually have such a plan. As people who studied abroad, Lin Feng got along very well with Zheng Zhi, Shao Jiayi and others. With the introduction of these two people, Lin Feng greeted the national team players at the training base one by one. Compared with those who studied abroad, these local international players are not as enthusiastic about Lin Feng. In particular, Li Weifeng, the leader of the local faction, was quite cold towards Lin Feng. As more and more players choose to study abroad, the competition for the right to speak between the overseas and local players among the national team will definitely become more and more fierce. But this situation will not last too long. Under the strict salary cap imposed by the Football Association, the only way out for outstanding domestic players is to study abroad. When the young players of the national youth team and Du Wei, Zheng Zhi and others started their journey to study abroad, some players with strength and potential, such as Yu Hai, Wang Yongpo, Qu Bo and others, also became keen on playing football abroad. Once the trend of studying abroad is formed, it will be very powerful, and every player in the country will inevitably be affected by it.
After all, playing football in China not only requires one to endure the poison of refereeing scandals and match-fixing, but one could also end up in jail if one is not careful, and the salary one receives is also very low. In this case, of course everyone is willing to go abroad to earn foreign exchange. …… Shortly after Lin Feng arrived, his teammates from the National Youth Team also arrived one after another. Everyone is a little uncomfortable with joining the national team. After all, they are the absolute main force in the national youth team. But when they arrive at the national team, they are just a bunch of small transparent people in front of all the big guys. So, naturally, a few people began to huddle together for warmth. Several people chatted about the interesting things that happened recently in their respective clubs. Gao Lin has just joined the Hornets and has not yet reported to the club. Hao Junmin is a shy person and was unable to get a word in. As Zhao Xuri did not obtain a work permit, he will be loaned out in the new season. The team is currently looking for a suitable team to loan him out to. Chen Tao has been training with his teammates from Werder Bremen for a week and has gained a certain understanding of their strengths. During the chat with his friends, Chen Tao highly praised the striker named Klose in the team: "You don't know, this guy looks ordinary, but it seems that he can turn every part of his body into a weapon to score goals. You can never imagine how he will score. I feel that this guy will definitely become a world-class striker in the future. It's really amazing!" The other people didn't react after hearing this, but Lin Feng nodded in agreement. How can Krzysztof Kobe, who set the World Cup goal record, not be amazing? The last person to arrive at the Xianghe base was Sun Jihai, who had just arrived from Manchester City. After his arrival, all 23 players of the Chinese national football team gathered together. After three days of training, the Chinese national football team officially sent troops to South Korea with the strongest lineup, ready to participate in the East Asian Four Nations Championship to be held at the end of July! (End of this chapter)