June 28, 2005, 17:30.
The Dutch Youth World Cup semifinal between the Chinese team and the Argentina team officially kicked off.
Because the two teams in the other half of the bracket were relatively weak, many considered this match to be the real final of this Youth World Cup.
Whoever won this match would claim the ultimate championship!
With Messi in the lineup, this match drew widespread attention across Europe.
As Barcelona's prized academy product, future cornerstone, and the future King of football personally endorsed by countless Football World legends, Messi's influence in European football was extraordinary.
Countless fans had come specifically for Messi. They held up banners and slogans in support of him in the stands, while some even raised portraits of him like fanatical religious believers.
But that was completely useless!
When it came to numbers, Chinese people had never feared anyone!
The combined number of European and Argentina fans present was not even half the number of National Football Team supporters.
The National Football Team fans had once again turned this stadium into their home ground!
Huge numbers of fans had traveled all the way from China just to cheer for their own team in person!
Nothing could stop the passion of Chinese fans!
When the national anthem was sung before the match, the loud, majestic chorus echoed through the stadium, leaving the foreigners stunned.
The National Football Team fans proudly straightened their backs, losing nothing in momentum.
You had Messi, but we had Lin Feng and Chen Tao. What was there to be smug about?
Thanks to his performances in the previous two matches, especially his outstanding showing against the Brazil Team, Lin Feng had become somewhat well-known in European football.
As a result, many media outlets had hyped this match as a peak showdown between two supreme prodigies. Some even believed the result could very well affect who would receive the Golden Boy Award later that year.
Although Messi was hugely famous, Rijkaard had only just promoted him to the first team.
Messi had made nine appearances for the first team last season and scored only one goal.
Those statistics were clearly nothing impressive. Competing for the Golden Boy Award with numbers like that was almost impossible.
So, he desperately needed a prestigious Championship Trophy to help him win this year's Golden Boy Award.
Nothing was more suitable than the Youth World Cup Trophy!
This was the best stage for young players. Defeating every rival here was undoubtedly the best way to prove oneself.
The same was true for Lin Feng. If he could lead the team past Messi and win the Youth World Cup—
then the Golden Boy Award would no longer be something beyond his reach.
Lin Feng on the pitch was not thinking that far ahead. Forget the Golden Boy Award—even if the Ballon d'Or were right in front of him, it would not matter more than victory in this match.
No matter how many personal honors he won, they might not be enough to save the National Football Team.
But if the China Youth Team could win this Youth World Cup, the outcome might be different.
"CCTV, CCTV. You are now watching the live broadcast of the 2005 Youth World Cup semifinal between China and Argentina."
Inside CCTV's studio, Huang Jianxiang quickly introduced the starting lineups for both sides.
The China Youth Team's starting lineup for this match was:
16-Yang Cheng; 4-Zheng Tao, 2-Zhao Ming, 5-Feng Xiaoting, 17-Tan Wensong; 20-Cui Peng, 10-Chen Tao, 7-Zhao Xuri, 8-Zhou Haibin, 23-Lin Feng, 11-Zhu Ting.
Up front, Klopp had selected neither Dong Fangzhuo nor Gao Lin, who had started the previous few matches. Instead, he chose Zhu Ting, who had pace and strong running ability.
Together with Lin Feng, who was also known for his speed, the China Youth Team's intention to play Counter-Attack football was obvious.
Argentina's starting lineup was not much different from the previous match, with only a few positional adjustments.
For example, Gago had been put into the starting lineup. The intention was clear: to increase the intensity of their midfield pressing.
Gago had performed exceptionally well in Argentina's previous match against the Spain team. Under the frenzied pressing of him and his teammates, Spain's star-studded midfield had descended into chaos. Fàbregas, David Silva, and the others had been completely shut down, and Spain had ultimately been eliminated by the Argentina team.
In this match, Argentina's head coach clearly wanted to replicate the previous game's tactics, because the Chinese team also had two outstanding midfielders.
But after the match began, he was left somewhat dumbfounded.
"Why has their number ten moved back into the defensive midfield position? Wasn't his starting position Attacking Midfielder?"
He was not the only one confused. Even the China Youth Team fans were baffled.
At first, they thought Chen Tao had merely dropped back to receive the ball. They had not expected him to stay there and never leave!
"Why has Chen Tao dropped back so far?"
"Guys, I'm a little confused. Is Chen Tao an Attacking Midfielder or a defensive midfielder now?"
"Probably... a defensive midfielder?"
"Why does this formation look a bit like Ancelotti's Christmas Tree formation?"
The facts proved that Klopp had not merely talked about it. He had genuinely copied AC Milan's tactics.
He had even brought over AC Milan's iconic 4-3-2-1 Christmas Tree formation wholesale.
After watching Argentina's match against Spain, he had guessed that they would target China's midfield, especially Chen Tao.
Chen Tao's Physical Confrontation ability was not particularly outstanding. If he truly got tied up by the opposition, his performance would definitely plummet.
Coincidentally, Pirlo often encountered the same problem at AC Milan, so Ancelotti had moved him from the Attacking Midfielder position farther back.
But a defensive midfielder had to take on defensive duties, while Pirlo himself did not possess much defensive ability.
So Ancelotti had paired Pirlo with the butcher Gattuso and had him protect Pirlo.
Wasn't that a perfect coincidence?
The China Youth Team happened to have a Chinese version of Gattuso—Cui Peng!
Of course, the Chinese version of Gattuso still differed greatly from the genuine Gattuso.
So Klopp had also placed Zhao Xuri in the defensive midfield position, further strengthening Chen Tao's protection.
Wanted to press Chen Tao into submission?
First, get past the two personal bodyguards in front of him!
Once the match began, Gago was utterly numb!
His opponent had run so far back, dropped so deep, and had a whole bunch of teammates protecting him.
Meanwhile, Gago himself had pushed forward alone, isolated and unable to cope. How was he supposed to win the ball?
What made his scalp tingle even more was that he could not simply choose not to press.
If he ignored him, Chen Tao could use his broad vision and precise passing to continuously feed ammunition to the China Youth Team's attacking players.
And the China Youth Team's front three were all extremely fast players. Whenever they sprinted, the entire Argentina team became nervous, terrified of following in the Brazil Team's footsteps.
Gago got angry. He called out to his teammates, and everyone rushed in together!
There was strength in numbers. That saying was indeed true.
With so many players swarming forward, even Chen Tao's two bodyguards could not do much.
But according to the law of conservation of numbers, if there were more people in one area of the pitch, there would definitely be fewer in another.
When Argentina committed heavy numbers to surrounding and pressing Chen Tao, Lin Feng, stationed in the Attacking Midfielder position, was freed up.
He now had ample space in front of him to exploit.
And exploiting space was what Kaka did best!
Was Kaka strong?
Of course he was. One could even say he was ridiculously strong!
But was Kaka difficult to defend against?
Actually, not really. As long as you did not give him enough space to drive forward and did not let his speed fully build up, he was easy to contain.
But once there was space everywhere on the pitch, and he had a top-class midfielder like Pirlo supporting him from behind—
Kaka was practically a nightmare on earth. Unless you fouled him, no one could stop him!
You even had to foul him early. Otherwise, once he got going, you could not even catch up to him.
Now, Lin Feng was waiting for an opportunity—an opportunity for the perfect Counter-Attack!
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