Save the Coach Plan!

As he left the locker room and entered the player tunnel, Lin Feng happened to see Messi emerging from the opposing locker room.

The two locked eyes, and Messi glared at him before quickly looking away.

Lin Feng felt thoughtful; this guy still hadn't recovered from the nightmare of the first half. Could he really be developing a psychological shadow?

Just as his mind wandered, Chen Tao bumped into him from behind.

"What are you doing?"

Lin Feng turned his head and shot Chen Tao a look.

"Ahem, you know that the head coach might leave after the Youth World Cup, right?"

Lin Feng shook his head. Of course he knew about it, but he didn't know the specific details, so he feigned ignorance, hoping to extract some intelligence from Chen Tao.

Chen Tao had no doubt about it. Seeing that Lin Feng was in the dark, he quickly explained the situation to him.

As it turned out, Klopp was not a coach hired proactively by the China Youth Team, but a candidate recommended by the German Football Association.

Because they needed to borrow the other side's training base, the Football Association couldn't refuse, and since Klopp did indeed have a decent coaching resume, they hired him with a mix of reluctance and willingness.

However, the contract between the two sides was set to expire after this Youth World Cup.

To keep him on, either the Football Association had to proactively offer a renewal, or the German Football Association had to fulfill the original agreement signed by both parties.

In recent years, Sino-German relations had developed with good momentum, and the football associations of both countries had taken the opportunity to launch many collaborations.

One of these was the 08 Stars project for the 2008 Olympics, and Klopp had come on board as the head coach for the 08 Stars.

Both football associations had their own hidden agendas; the Chinese side hoped to use Germany's deep foundation and advanced philosophy to help develop their own football.

The Germans, meanwhile, had their eyes on China's vast market!

As long as the national team could qualify for the World Cup, given China's scale and its massive domestic market, it would bring the German Football Association a huge amount of sponsorship and broadcasting revenue.

And the attention brought by over a billion fans would greatly increase the global influence of the Germany World Cup.

Both sides were very satisfied with this mutually beneficial relationship.

But, as expected, something unexpected happened!

The national team dropped the ball at the critical moment and failed to qualify for the World Cup!

Once they saw that the Chinese national team wouldn't be coming, the Germans were suddenly unhappy.

The only reason they were willing to help was for the lucrative returns from the Chinese side.

But now that the returns were gone, they naturally weren't willing to continue playing the fool. They stopped providing the sponsorship fees they had previously promised to the China Youth Team, and many cooperative projects were canceled.

And when the German Football Association refused to continue fulfilling the previously signed agreement, the Chinese Football Association was naturally unhappy as well.

What happened to the spirit of the contract?

What happened to the 2 million in sponsorship fees?

They weren't even paying the money, yet they still wanted the Chinese side to keep using their people and pay their salaries—in precious foreign currency, no less!

Keep dreaming!

It was precisely after the German side refused to fulfill the agreement that the Football Association's attitude toward Klopp underwent a major shift.

Under these circumstances, Klopp leaving after the Youth World Cup was practically a done deal.

"Although it's very difficult to keep the coach, it's not impossible."

Chen Tao looked back at Team Leader Li, who was chatting and laughing with several Chinese coaches, and lowered his voice.

"As long as we players all stand by the coach's side, the leaders of the Football Association will have to consider our feelings. Perhaps they won't burn all their bridges, especially if we make the request to keep him while standing as Youth World Cup champions."

"But if we can't reach a consensus among the players, then a joint petition to the higher-ups won't be possible!"

Lin Feng turned to look at Chen Tao.

"Are you worried that I've been bought off by the team leader?"

Chen Tao nodded slightly.

"Get lost, do I look like someone so greedy for money?"

Lin Feng feigned anger and gave him an elbow.

"Haha, I'm just kidding. I know you're not that kind of person. Although I don't know your family background, I can tell from your daily behavior that your family isn't short on money."

"But it's hard to say for the others!"

Chen Tao's expression turned serious; many of their teammates didn't come from well-off families.

He was very worried that his teammates would be bought off by the team leader's financial offensive and abandon the mentor who had led them toward glory.

Lin Feng pondered for a moment.

"That's easy to handle. After this match ends, find an opportunity to gather everyone and explain the pros and cons to them."

"You have to know, our coach not only has deep connections in the German football world but also has a good network throughout Europe. If everyone wants to study abroad, he can truly help."

"I believe no one will abandon a much broader future for a little bit of petty gain right now."

Chen Tao's eyes lit up, and he gave Lin Feng a thumbs-up:

"I think this plan is feasible. I never expected that besides having a handsome face, you kid would also have such a sharp brain!"

"Go away, are you complimenting me or insulting me?"

Although he had given Chen Tao an idea, Lin Feng did not pin all his hopes on the players forcing the issue.

He thought about that 2 Million sponsorship fee, but he just didn't know if it was 2 Million RMB, 2 Million USD, or 2 Million Euro.

The fifteen-minute break ended, and the players from both sides returned to the pitch.

Compared to ten minutes ago, Messi's complexion had recovered quite a bit.

It seemed that the halftime break had allowed him to catch his breath.

Being young is truly a blessing!

Even the speed of physical recovery was much faster than that of older players.

Just as Klopp had expected, after the second half began, Argentina indeed arranged for someone to man-mark Lin Feng.

This person didn't have to do anything else; he was tasked solely with watching Lin Feng.

Wherever Lin Feng went, he followed.

Like a roadblock, he stood firmly in front of Lin Feng, denying him the space to accelerate and charge forward, preventing him from picking up speed and creating threats as he had before.

Without his speed, the threat Lin Feng posed to the Argentina goal dropped sharply.

On the sidelines, the Argentina head coach let out a long sigh of relief upon seeing that the opponent had finally been contained by his team's tactics.

Although they had paid a significant price, the result was still good.

The score on the field was still in their favor, and as long as they held on, they would find a way!

However, to his surprise, after Lin Feng was restricted, the offensive threat from the China Youth Team did not decrease; instead, it increased.

Less than ten minutes into the second half, the China Youth Team had already completed three shots.

Although none of these three shots resulted in a goal, they sounded an alarm for the Argentinians.

As the saying goes, a long defense will eventually lead to a loss; if they continued to play so passively, they would certainly not be able to protect their goal.

What on earth was going on?

The Argentina head coach frowned and began to observe carefully.

In the 58th minute, the China Youth Team launched an attack from the left wing.

Chen Tao's pass accurately found Zheng Tao on the flank, and the latter aimed at the penalty area and sent in a cross.

Substitute Dong Fangzhuo outjumped the defender, leaped high, and executed a Header Goal.

The ball was headed with considerable power, and the Goalkeeper was already unable to react in time.

But unfortunately, the ball went just over the crossbar, and the Argentinians luckily escaped a disaster.

Although they had luckily survived this attack from the China Youth Team, the Argentinians could no longer smile at all.

Unknowingly, the battle lines of both sides had been completely pushed into the Argentina half; this period had almost turned into the China Youth Team besieging the Argentina goal.

Why did it turn out like this?

Everyone could not help but have this question in their minds.