Turning Up the Heat on My Teammates!

Chapter 6: Turning Up the Intensity for Teammates!

Just as Klopp was working himself to the bone, Lin Feng was also pondering a question.

How could he use the advantages brought by his status as a Reborn person to help this Youth National Team and the future national team improve their combat effectiveness?

A fence needs three stakes, and a hero needs three helpers.

Football is a team sport; no matter how strong an individual's Individual Strength is, it is difficult to achieve victory without a group of good teammates to coordinate with.

The strength of the national team is ultimately too weak, coupled with the Football Association acting as a "pig teammate."

If he doesn't do something, even with him as a variable, the future results of the national team probably won't be much better.

And this Youth National Team, known as the Platinum Generation, has many players who will become future national team members, with some even serving the national team for over a decade.

If he can help them improve their own strength, then the combat effectiveness of the national team will naturally rise along with it.

As for how to help these teammates improve their strength, it is actually quite simple: find a way to get them to Study Abroad and receive training in high-level overseas leagues.

This is a path that Japan and South Korea have both taken, and it has been proven effective.

It is also the only option that has a chance of success without involving deep-seated issues such as youth training, league structures, and Football Association institutional reforms.

Thinking of this, Lin Feng had already decided what he should do.

For many in the Youth National Team, this was their first time coming to the Netherlands.

Being new to the place and unfamiliar with the surroundings, they naturally treated Lin Feng, the local snake, as their guide.

Although Lin Feng lived in Germany, the Netherlands was very close, and he had been here many times.

So, he led his teammates around Amsterdam with ease and familiarity.

The areas they passed through were all carefully selected by Lin Feng, basically the most prosperous and beautiful parts of Amsterdam.

As the capital of the long-established developed country of the Netherlands, Amsterdam was very prosperous.

Before the economic crisis of 2008 had erupted, Western Europe was a scene of prosperity, far from the chaos and decay of twenty years later.

Except for a few players who played for clubs in first-tier cities, where had the Youngsters of the Youth National Team ever seen such a sight?

One by one, they were like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, completely dazzled by this world of glitz and glamour.

What a great place!

Since they had finally managed to get out, they had to buy some gifts to take back for their friends and family, right?

Lin Feng took them to the most prosperous shopping malls, using the dazzling array of goods to stimulate their desire to consume.

Sure enough, everyone's eyes widened; there was a huge variety of things here, many of which were not available domestically, such as the latest BlackBerry phone, PSP game console, and the like.

So, everyone started to splurge, emptying their wallets and entering a shopping frenzy.

Some spared no expense to buy designer bags, watches, and high-end cosmetics; these things were much cheaper in Europe than at home, and if they bought them and resold them, they might even make a small profit.

Some spent a lot of money on a large number of electronic products, and some had peculiar tastes, actually buying several sets of authentic Lego toys.

To this, Lin Feng could only say: Brother, you are invincible!

Before coming to Europe to participate in the Youth World Cup, there were rumors that the Youth National Team might go to the Clairefontaine training camp in Paris for training.

Paris in 2005 was not the chaotic capital of later generations, filled with thieves, refugees, and new immigrants, where strikes and protests happened at every turn.

In people's minds, it was the capital of fashion, the capital of romance, and also a shopping paradise.

Influenced by this, many of the players' friends and family had asked them to help with purchases.

So, the things the Youngsters of the Youth National Team bought were not necessarily for themselves (except for that Lego guy).

After all, among them, except for a very few who were already mainstays in the First Team, the rest were mostly substitutes or still struggling in the youth teams, and they didn't earn much money throughout the year.

How could they have so much money to buy such expensive things?

Lin Feng had seen these things many times, and had even seen better ones in later generations, so he wasn't very impressed.

He didn't buy anything himself, just spent one Euro to buy the latest Sports Newspaper and browsed the latest news in the Football World.

Most of the content in the newspaper was about the transfer news of the European Football World this summer.

Major transfer news, such as the transfer of Real Madrid Star Player and Barcelona traitor Figo to Inter Milan, and the transfer of the best European newcomer Ramos to Real Madrid, filled the front page headlines.

After flipping through a few pages, he finally saw a report about the Youth World Cup in an inconspicuous spot.

<Eastern Dragon defeats German War Machine, young player stuns the crowd!>

Lin Feng saw his own handsome photo in the accompanying picture at a glance and gave the Dutch a thumbs up in his heart.

This photography skill is top-notch!

After reading it carefully, the Dutch were very generous, writing a lot of praise for him.

Of course, the most mentioned person here was Kaka; the Dutch compared him to Kaka many times, and some commentators even felt that he was a youthful version of Kaka. If he could reach Kaka's current height in the future, his future would be limitless.

However, compared to another young man with a picture, the Dutch's hype for him was clearly not as strong.

<Barcelona genius shines at the Youth World Cup, Pampas Eagle becomes the top favorite to win the title!>

In their coverage of Messi and the Argentina team, the Dutch media used almost every superlative they could muster, praising Messi to the high heavens.

They threw around terms like peerless genius and the future king of football.

The La Masia Youth Academy was founded by the Dutchman Cruyff, so the Dutch felt a sense of pride and kinship toward any genius who emerged from it.

It was no surprise, then, that they were blowing smoke so blatantly.

Looking at the photo of Messi celebrating a goal with both fingers pointed toward the sky, Lin Feng took a deep breath.

Being in the same era as players like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is the sorrow of many excellent players, because it is so difficult to stand out.

But at the same time, isn't this also an opportunity?

Being able to compete against the best players will only constantly stimulate oneself and push one to become stronger!

Just thinking about such a scene is enough to make one feel excited!

Although Klopp gave the team a day off, the group was unfortunately strapped for cash.

After wandering around for just half a day, most of them had already spent all the money they had on them.

In the end, even the money for lunch had to be covered by Chen Tao.

Chen Tao had at least secured a starting position at Shenyang Ginde with an annual salary of around 400,000, so he could still afford the cost of a meal.

But for him, this meal was still a painful hit to the wallet.

"Damn it, over ten thousand for a meal? Why don't they just go rob someone?"

Looking at his shriveled wallet, even Chen Tao began to wail.

"Exactly, with this much money, back in our hometown, we could host dozens of banquet tables and feed everyone for three days and three nights!"

Hao Junmin, who came from a rural background, nodded repeatedly, feeling that this meal was incredibly poor value.

"You guys say the cost of living here in Europe is so high, does that mean the money they earn from working is also very high?"

Someone asked curiously.

"Definitely, otherwise how could they afford such high expenses?"

Dong Fangzhuo, who was playing in Belgium, said casually.

"Brother Dong, what is your annual salary at Manchester United?"

Hearing Dong Fangzhuo speak, a thought struck Lin Feng, and he pretended to ask the question nonchalantly.

Everyone was very interested in this topic; they instantly stopped whispering, eyes fixed on him, ears pricked up, terrified of missing a single word.

"Ahem, it's not much. I'm a newcomer, and I haven't played in a match for the team yet, so Manchester United isn't paying me much. The weekly salary is only about 5,000 to 6,000 Pound Sterling!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the group was in an uproar.

Some started counting on their fingers.

Five or six thousand a week—wouldn't that be an annual salary of 300,000 Pound Sterling?

At this time, the exchange rate of the Pound Sterling to the Renminbi was about 1:14.

An annual salary of 300,000 converted into Renminbi was a staggering 4.2 million!

Dong Fangzhuo's salary was actually this high?

PS: To be honest, before starting this book, I was actually very anxious.

In football literature, the national football team is a huge minefield that many people dare not touch.

The reason is simple: the national team is just too terrible, so terrible that many people are completely disappointed and can't help but curse whenever it's mentioned.

But as I said in the novel, no matter how bad the national team is, they are still our own children, and everyone in their hearts still hopes they can get better.

Since I started watching football in 2008, the national team has truly disappointed me time and time again. Like everyone else, I have cursed them, mourned their misfortune, been angry at their lack of drive, and sworn never to watch them again.

But occasionally, when I see news about a national team match, I still can't help but secretly open the stream to watch.

After watching, I can't help but want to slap myself: why am I such a masochist!

However, ever since I saw the national team narrowly escape death during the World Cup Qualifiers and miraculously keep their hopes of advancing alive.

My perception of the national team has slowly begun to change.

This national team is undoubtedly the weakest in terms of pure talent that I have seen in all my years of watching.

But their spirit and demeanor are perhaps the best of any national team in the last decade.

Their fighting spirit, their desire for victory, and their implementation of the coach's tactical arrangements are the best the national team has shown in recent years.

If the more talented national team from the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers had possessed this spirit, perhaps we wouldn't have been mere spectators at the Russia World Cup.

The current strength of the national team is still poor, but I feel the overall environment is improving.

Although there are still many people bashing the national team—after all, it's a national punching bag that anyone can take a swing at.

But there are also more people willing to look at the national team's shortcomings and weaknesses objectively and fairly, and speak a word of justice for them.

Furthermore, after the national football team hit rock bottom, they finally recognized their own strength and stopped harboring any unrealistic fantasies.

The national team is currently at an Asian third-rate or even fourth-rate level, but after acknowledging this reality, they are finally able to execute tactics that actually suit their capabilities, no longer playing in that awkward and uncomfortable way they did before.

More importantly, as the Youth Training Players from the era of Money Football have gradually matured, the performances of the youth national team and the youth national team in international competitions have been warming up.

This has allowed me to see hope.

Keep going, Chinese football!