The Final Opponent

The team had won, and Klopp was delighted.

Considering how hard the players had trained and competed lately, and with five days still remaining before the final, he gave them another day off.

Having just received the win bonus from the Football Association and now hearing they had a day off, the players were all beaming with joy.

The lively Mao Biao somehow found a bottle of champagne and charged at his teammates.

"Damn it, I just changed clothes!"

"C-Mao, you bastard, don't run! I'll show you why flowers are so red!"

Quite a few of the ambushed players had already changed and were ready to head out. After this sneak attack, not only had they showered for nothing, but their clean clothes were ruined too.

Furious, they cursed Mao Biao while chasing after him, planning to deepen their friendship through physical means.

"Brothers, I was wrong! I'll still do it again next time!"

Naturally, Mao Biao was not about to surrender so easily. He kept provoking them while using his nimble footwork and Snake-like Movement to evade their encirclement.

The group put on a lively game of cat and mouse in the locker room, turning the already noisy place completely upside down.

But the locker room was only so big, and Mao Biao was quickly cornered by his teammates with nowhere left to run.

Pig-slaughter screams mixed with occasional pleas of "Brothers, I was wrong!" and "I'll never dare do it again!" reached everyone's ears.

Seeing that they had had enough fun, Chen Tao clapped his hands hard.

"Alright, alright, stop messing around. Get ready, everyone. Dinner's on me tonight!"

"Brother Chen, you're the best!"

"Love you, Brother Chen!"

They had long grown tired of the training meals at the base, and after being abroad for so long, they had all begun craving the taste of hometown cooking.

So, guided by local overseas Chinese fans, the China Youth Team found a well-reviewed Chinese restaurant and enjoyed a hearty meal.

By sheer coincidence, the owner of the Chinese restaurant was also a football fan. After recognizing the China Youth Team players, he insisted on waiving their bill.

But the meal had not been cheap, and the China Youth Team players felt embarrassed to take advantage of him.

So both sides went back and forth, with the China Youth Team insisting on paying and the owner insisting on refusing.

"How about this? Leave behind a Group Photo, and I'll hang it up in the restaurant. That can count as payment for the meal. What do you say?"

The others all thought it was a good suggestion after hearing the owner's words.

But after hearing him, Lin Feng gave the owner an interested extra look.

This owner had quite the business sense!

All he had to do was put up the Group Photo and promote the fact that the China Youth Team players had eaten here.

If the China Youth Team won the Youth World Cup, this place might become a Pilgrimage Check-in Point for domestic fans.

And if some Top Star Players emerged from this China Youth Team in the future, the promotional impact would likely be even greater.

So while it was only a Group Photo, the benefits it could bring this restaurant were worth far more than the cost of the meal.

"No problem!"

Chen Tao did not seem to have thought that much about it and agreed without hesitation.

He might have guessed part of what the owner was thinking, but he did not care much.

The restaurant was affordable and delicious, so he did not mind giving it some publicity.

Using the dinner as an opportunity, Chen Tao and Lin Feng subtly sounded out the players' attitudes toward the Head Coach.

Overall, the players were quite satisfied with Klopp as their Head Coach.

The old man could be very strict at times, and he demanded a great deal from them in training.

But under his strict standards, everyone had clearly felt their own abilities improve.

Moreover, since leading them in the Youth World Cup, he had achieved unprecedented success on the field, further strengthening his prestige in the players' minds.

And when Chen Tao subtly revealed that Klopp could use his connections in Europe to help them play abroad, their support for Klopp rose once more.

Though many still had reservations and did not dare openly oppose the Football Association.

As long as someone took the lead, however, they had no problem cheering from behind.

The players' statements put Chen Tao's mind at ease. There was no need for anyone else to take the lead; he would do it himself.

Chen Tao had always been someone with a strong sense of responsibility, so naturally he would not back down from something like this.

With their worries behind them, the China Youth Team players devoted themselves fully to training.

In the other semifinal that followed, Nigeria defeated Morocco and advanced to the final, becoming the China Youth Team's opponent in the title match.

Nigeria might not have had the reputation of title favorites like Brazil and Argentina.

But their strength could not be underestimated in the slightest.

Other than their unexpected group-stage loss to the South Korea team, Nigeria had not lost another match.

They had drawn with Brazil, eliminated Ukraine, and even beaten the host Netherlands team.

This team might not have looked as star-studded or dazzling.

But anyone who underestimated their strength would surely pay a heavy price.

Given their opponents' formidable physicality and outstanding defensive ability.

Klopp specifically intensified attacking drills during preparations.

Worried that the team might get dragged into a positional battle, Klopp placed Zou You, who had rarely played, into the starting lineup during internal training matches.

Zou You stood 1.95 meters tall, making him the tallest of the China Youth Team's five forwards.

However, because Gao Lin, Dong Fangzhuo, Zhu Ting, and the others had performed so well, Zou You had yet to make an appearance at this Youth World Cup.

But not playing before did not mean he would not play later.

His height gave him the potential to serve as a surprise weapon.

If every other attacking method failed, Klopp was very likely to send him on and give it a try.

Zou You had previously been with the reserve side and had rarely trained with the starters.

As a result, his performances in the first few training matches were far from ideal.

But it was not entirely his fault. He had originally played as a defensive midfielder, but because the China Youth Team lacked a tall center forward, he had been converted into a striker.

He had spent too little time playing up front, and he had yet to acquire many of the skills a striker should possess.

Therefore, using him alone on the front line produced very average results.

Klopp had clearly noticed this problem and immediately began experimenting with different combinations.

He sent Gao Lin, Zhu Ting, Mao Biao, and Dong Fangzhuo out one after another to partner Zou You in a two-striker setup and test the results.

Zou You did not combine particularly well with the others, but his partnership with Gao Lin produced a good chemical reaction.

The reason was probably that Gao Lin was better at setting up plays.

After Zou You used his height to win the ball and flick it on to Gao Lin, Gao Lin could dribble, pass, or shoot, giving him a wide range of options and making him difficult for opponents to defend against.

But if that was the case, would it not work even better to place Lin Feng as a Shadow Striker and have Zou You flick the ball on to him?

Klopp had a bold idea!