After the Football Association issued the Salary Cap Order in 2005, the maximum annual salary for individual Chinese Super League players was capped at one million yuan.
Even before the Salary Cap Order was introduced, Li Jinyu, the highest-paid player in the 2004 Chinese Super League, only earned 3.2 million yuan a year.
Who was Li Jinyu?
He was the Chinese Super League's Top Scorer, the League's Number One!
Compared to Li Jinyu, Dong Fangzhuo lagged far behind in both individual ability and seniority.
Yet his annual salary was actually higher than Li Jinyu's!
Was there any justice left?
Was there any law left?
No wonder everyone's eyes had turned red when they heard Dong Fangzhuo's annual salary.
Not just them—even Chen Tao's heart had been stirred, and his determination to play abroad had grown firmer.
"By the way, isn't Lin Feng playing in Germany too? Why don't you ask him about his salary?"
Dong Fangzhuo turned to look at Lin Feng beside him, and the other teammates also shifted their gazes toward Lin Feng.
Lin Feng could barely stop himself from giving Dong Fangzhuo a thumbs-up in his heart. Talk about someone handing you a pillow when you're sleepy!
When Dong Fangzhuo had introduced his annual salary earlier, Lin Feng had already noticed the change in everyone's mood.
With Dong Fangzhuo as an example, all Lin Feng needed to do now was deepen their impression that playing overseas paid well.
So he decided to go with the flow and add fuel to the fire.
"My club isn't a giant. It's just an ordinary German 2. Bundesliga team, so my annual salary isn't as high as Brother Dong's."
Everyone calmed down quite a bit upon hearing that. Right, Dong Fangzhuo played for Manchester United. He couldn't be judged by ordinary standards.
But Lin Feng's next words made their breathing quicken.
"My annual salary is only around 300,000 euros."
300,000 euros!
Only?
Were you seriously showing off here?
At the current exchange rate, 300,000 euros converted to yuan was nearly 2.9 million!
That was almost three times the salary of the Chinese Super League's Number One after the salary cap!
And that was only the salary from an ordinary German 2. Bundesliga club!
Thinking of that, everyone's breathing became even more hurried.
They might not be able to join a giant like Manchester United, but clubs at the level of the German 2. Bundesliga were still within reach if they worked hard enough.
Even if they couldn't earn as much as Lin Feng, even half of that would still be several times better than playing at home, wouldn't it?
What's more, Europe had the Big Five Leagues, where the Professional Development Ceiling was even higher.
If they performed well in lower-tier leagues and caught the eye of a Big Five Leagues club, they could truly soar to the heavens in a single leap.
At present, Chinese football's Number One Player was Sun Jihai, who played in the Premier League. It was said that his weekly wage was 12,500 Pound Sterling, which came to nearly ten million yuan a year.
That salary was basically ten times the top salary domestic players could earn!
Playing for one year was equivalent to domestic players playing for ten. It was obvious where the better prospects lay!
At that thought, regardless of whether they had previously considered playing abroad or not,
every single one of them now wished they could transfer to a European club immediately and begin their overseas careers.
"Brother Dong, Brother Lin, I want to play abroad. Do either of you have any connections?"
Hao Junmin, whose family circumstances were relatively poor, was the first to lose patience. He eagerly turned to Dong Fangzhuo and Lin Feng, the two veterans who had made their way through European leagues, for help.
If possible, he even wanted to finalize his transfer that very summer.
"No problem. I'll talk to my agent later and ask him to see if there are any suitable clubs for you."
Dong Fangzhuo's agent, Gao Qi, had some influence in the industry.
Back when Dong Fangzhuo joined Manchester United, it was Gao Qi who had arranged the transfer.
So upon hearing Dong Fangzhuo's promise, Hao Junmin immediately felt relieved.
Seeing Hao Junmin receive a promise, the others also spoke up and asked Dong Fangzhuo for help.
With everyone calling him Brother Dong one after another, Dong Fangzhuo was feeling fantastic. His sense of responsibility surged, and he agreed to handle everything.
Chen Tao frowned beside them, as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, he remained silent.
He was the breakout star of this Youth World Cup. With his ability and reputation, he naturally had no need to rely on Dong Fangzhuo's connections to find a club.
In fact, even before heading to the Netherlands for the Youth World Cup, he had already received offers from quite a few European clubs.
However, his relationship with Shenyang Ginde had soured badly over contract issues earlier that year. This created major obstacles for his move abroad—perhaps the greatest obstacle among them all.
It was said that once people had a clear goal, their entire mental state would change.
That was vividly reflected in the China Youth Team players!
Once everyone made playing abroad their goal, they came to deeply understand one thing.
Playing abroad was not easy. Otherwise, there would not be so few domestic players overseas.
Limited by the standard of the Chinese Super League, European scouts rarely paid attention to it.
If they wanted to attract the attention of European clubs, they had to seize this Youth World Cup opportunity.
Playing one good match on an international stage in Europe was far more important than playing ten good matches in their domestic league.
Thus, nearly everyone threw themselves into it, wanting to perform well in the upcoming matches, prove their ability and value, and hopefully impress their future clubs.
The China Youth Team players' training attitude, as pumped up as if they had been injected with chicken blood, left the coaches deeply puzzled.
"Could Old man Klopp's day off really be that magical? How did the players change so much after going out for just one day?"
Several Chinese coaches gathered together and murmured quietly.
It was not just them who couldn't understand it. Even Klopp himself was a little bewildered.
Why had these guys suddenly become so diligent and hardworking, so full of drive?
If he couldn't figure it out, then he wouldn't dwell on it. At least this change in the players was a good thing, wasn't it?
Four days passed in the blink of an eye.
Soon, it was time for the China Youth Team's match against the Brazil Team.
Compared to the previous match against the German team, even more Chinese fans had come to watch this one in person.
The stands were almost completely covered in red, with Chinese supporters waving Five-star red flags everywhere.
Back in China, although the match was scheduled for nearly three in the morning,
countless fans still sat in front of their televisions with dark circles under their eyes, yawning and fighting off sleep as they waited for this crucial match.
Although everyone knew in their hearts that the China Youth Team had only a slim hope of defeating the powerful Brazil Team,
they still chose to stand firmly by the China Youth Team without abandoning them, accompanying them to the very end.
"Chinese team!"
"Come on!"
"Chinese team!"
"Come on!"
As the China Youth Team players entered the field, the fans in the stands, led by a broad-shouldered, burly man, erupted in perfectly synchronized cheers.
The thunderous chant immediately drew the attention of both teams' players.
"Damn! There are so many people here?"
"This treatment is almost on par with the national team!"
The China Youth Team players were both shocked and excited.
They had never enjoyed this kind of treatment before.
"I wonder if they'll curse even louder when we lose later!"
"Will you shut up already?"
Someone's loose mouth made everyone laugh.
After laughing, their eyes became resolute.
Even for the sake of these fans supporting them, they had to go all out in this match and fight the Samba players to the end!
The Brazil Team players beside them were also startled by the commotion in the stands, but it only made them look down on them even more.
Who did they think they were?
They dared to dream of defeating our mighty Samba football?
A Football desert should act like a Football desert!
As the undisputed kings of the football world in this era, the name Brazil Team alone carried immense intimidation.
In the past, these young China Youth Team players would probably have been intimidated before the match even began.
But this time was clearly different. Fired up with passion, they looked at the Brazilian players with no fear in their eyes, only burning fighting spirit.
Even if the King of Heaven himself came today, they would risk everything to knock a few of his teeth out!
At 8:30 p.m., the referee blew the whistle to begin the match.
The quarterfinal match between the China Youth Team and the Brazil Team at the 2005 Youth World Cup officially began.
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