"Rio, our next opponent has been decided!!"
Inside the hotel where the Argentina Youth Team was staying, the youthful-looking Agüero grabbed Messi by the shoulder and spoke excitedly.
Seventeen-year-old Agüero had delicate features and bright eyes, full of the youth and vitality someone his age should have had.
His roommate Messi, on the other hand, looked rather mature with his long hair.
And it was not just his appearance. His temperament was far more mature than Agüero's as well.
"Oh? Is it Brazil Team?"
Messi carefully rolled over and pretended to look curiously at his friend.
In truth, Messi did not care at all who their next opponent was.
Whoever came, they would not be his match. He had complete confidence in his own strength.
"Hehe, congratulations, you guessed wrong. Brazil Team was eliminated!"
Agüero looked smug. Partly because Messi had guessed wrong, but more because Brazil Team's disastrous elimination made him happy.
Argentina football and Brazil football had a deep rivalry. Neither side accepted the other, and both wanted to be South America's number one.
If they met on the pitch, it would be like Mars colliding with Earth.
"Did German team win, then?"
Agüero had leaned in too close, forcing Messi to shift back slightly.
Half of his butt was already hanging off the bed. If he moved any farther back, he would fall to the floor.
There was really nothing he could do about Kun. It was clearly a double room, yet this guy insisted on crowding onto his bed and was squeezing him until he barely had any space left.
"Huh? What are you talking about? German team was eliminated by Chinese team ages ago. Don't tell me you didn't know?"
Agüero looked astonished. Had Messi not even known who Brazil Team's opponent was?
"So our next opponent is Chinese team?"
The expression on Messi's face finally changed.
Chinese team...
The name sounded unfamiliar. It was not that he had never heard of China as a country.
But in football, Chinese football was completely obscure, with virtually no presence at all.
So he had never once imagined that he would face Chinese team in the semifinals one day.
He could understand meeting them in the group stage, but the semifinals...
Had Chinese football developed to this extent already?
"Rio, don't say I didn't warn you. Chinese team has a guy named Lin Feng, and they say he's extremely good. Quite a few people think he might threaten your position as Best Player, so you'd better be careful!"
Seeing that Messi did not seem to take it seriously, Agüero kindly warned him.
Messi nodded indifferently. Too many people wanted to challenge him. Until the other side proved his strength, Messi would not pay him much attention.
The impact of China Youth Team's crushing victory over Brazil Team continued to spread.
Back home, the front pages of every major newspaper were filled with reports about the match.
That evening, News Broadcast even devoted a full two and a half minutes to covering the game. China Youth Team had never received such treatment, and even National Football Team had never enjoyed it.
Back when National Football Team had historically reached the World Cup Main Tournament, News Broadcast had given it only a little over fifty seconds of coverage.
Perhaps people at the time believed that after a first time, there would be a second, and National Football Team's future would only get better.
Who could have expected National Football Team to take the exact opposite path? Later, News Broadcast gave them more and more coverage, but their results became more and more embarrassing.
In that era, News Broadcast still had enormous influence.
After two consecutive reports from News Broadcast, China Youth Team's reputation at home had completely surpassed that of the senior national team.
For a time, whether people watched football or not, the entire country was talking about China Youth Team and the Youth World Cup.
Some bored fans even argued endlessly over whether Lin Feng or Chen Tao was stronger within China Youth Team:
"Of course Chen Tao is better. Without his passes, how could Lin Feng have scored those two goals?"
"Pfft, without Lin Feng, what use would Chen Tao's passes be? Were Gao Lin and Dong Fangzhuo supposed to score? Did they have that ability?"
Both sides stuck to their arguments, and both made some sense.
As a result, neither could convince the other, and they argued until their faces and necks turned red.
But Lin Feng had joined the team and played only two matches, yet people were already comparing him with Chen Tao, China Youth Team's unquestioned core. That alone was a form of recognition of his ability!
And although the fans were arguing, there was not much hostility in it. Even while bickering, they were filled with a sense of happy satisfaction.
As the fans put it, they had never fought such a rich battle before!
Having one Chen Tao in China Youth Team was already surprising enough.
Yet now, another player no weaker than Chen Tao—and perhaps even stronger—had suddenly emerged.
China Youth Team had gone from a single-core setup to a glorious dual-core setup.
When had a national team ever had Twin Stars like this?
There had never been anything like it!
Lin Feng's sudden breakout, coupled with how little people knew about his background, made him seem both mysterious and powerful, further stirring the interest of fans everywhere.
But the Football Association's profile on him was painfully brief, with only a few simple lines:
Lin Feng, born May 20, 1988, in Hubei Xiaogan.
He moved overseas with his parents at the age of seven and currently played for Greuther Fürth in the German 2. Bundesliga.
That was all!
Such a bare-bones introduction obviously could not satisfy the fans.
People desperately wanted to know more information and news about Lin Feng.
But the Football Association truly had nothing else to offer. Lin Feng had never been part of their recruitment plans.
Klopp had pushed through all opposition and personally settled on him after Yu Hai and Wang Yongpo withdrew due to injury.
So, with the Football Association unable to update Lin Feng's information for a long time, all sorts of false rumors began flying everywhere.
Some questioned whether Lin Feng was qualified to represent China Youth Team, since he had emigrated so young and it was hard to say whether he was still Chinese or had become a foreigner.
Others questioned whether Lin Feng had falsified his age, because changing one's age was simply too common in Chinese sports.
And Lin Feng's performance had been so outstanding that it was difficult not to make that connection.
As the uproar outside grew more intense and the rumors became more outrageous with every retelling,
the Football Association had no choice but to step forward and state that they would arrange for a group of journalists to visit China Youth Team's Training Base for interviews.
At that time, they could ask the players themselves any questions they had.
The Football Association was unusually efficient this time. Not long after making the announcement, it finalized the list of people permitted to travel abroad for interviews.
Those granted access were all fairly well-known media outlets in the industry, including professional print sports media such as China Sports Daily, Qiu Bao, China Football News, Titan Sports Weekly, and Southern Sports.
There were also reporters from portal websites such as Sina Sports, Sohu Sports, and Tencent Sports.
These outlets either had deep connections or a good relationship with the Football Association. They had all been informed beforehand and would not ask any strange questions.
The China Youth Team players were fairly young and had less experience dealing with reporters than veteran players.
If the interview topics were not arranged in advance, those experienced reporters could easily coax careless words out of the young players, or even set verbal traps to deliberately trick them.
Do not think they would not do such things. For gimmicks and sales, there was nothing these people would not do.
As the player domestic fans cared about most, Lin Feng received the greatest number of interview requests.
Having just won, Lin Feng was in a good mood and readily accepted the reporters' requests.
Compared with the other players on the team, Lin Feng had spent too little time in China, and fans knew very little about him.
So he also wanted to use this opportunity to greet the domestic fans and make himself more familiar to them.
The first question came from a China Sports Daily reporter, who immediately raised the issue everyone cared about most:
"Hello, Lin Feng. I'm Li Xiang, a reporter from China Sports Daily. Since your parents took you abroad when you were young, many fans are very concerned about your nationality."
"Can you tell us whether you are Chinese?"
Before you continue