Football career: From winning the championship to becoming a legend

On June 2005, 6, the Netherlands entered the midsummer season. It was not as hot as inland countries, but the climate in coastal lowland countries was warmer and more pleasant. In the evening, the breeze brought a hint of the sea and coolness. The sky in the distance was gradually dyed with the orange-red afterglow of the setting sun, just like the orange jerseys of the Dutch national team... In the summer evening, the Netherlands showed its unique and charming style, which made people linger.

On the evening before the Italy-Argentina match, which was described by the media as the highlight of the round of 16 knockout stage, eight teams that broke through the group stage had already started fighting against each other.

其中在恩斯赫德赛区，早场于17：30分开打的美国U20代表队以1比0的比分有惊无险的拿下了韩国U20代表队；而晚场于20：30分开打的摩洛哥U20代表队以相同的1比0比分淘汰日本U20代表队……

Unlike the future of the Chinese team, the Japanese and Korean football teams at that time had not yet opened up the gap with other Asian teams, nor had they gradually become world-class or quasi-first-class teams 15 years later. Therefore, it was not too surprising that they were eliminated by the American and Moroccan teams with better physical fitness, and the game process was also relatively unremarkable.

At the same time, two matches in another division - Tilburg Division - attracted more attention...

The first match that started early was the Brazil-Colombia match, which attracted the most attention after the Italy-Argentina match. The Brazil U20 team and the Colombia U20 team were known as the South American duo's civil war! (Argentina: Hey, wait, did you get the wrong duo? The South American duo should be Argentina and Colombia...)

This game is also a replay of the final of the South American Youth Championship (South American Youth Championship) at the beginning of the year!

In the final at the beginning of the year, the Colombian U20 team climbed to the top of the championship by stepping on the Brazilian U20 team.

The two teams met again in the World Youth Championship after half a year. It was like enemies meeting and they were extremely jealous of each other. As opponents, the two sides were also familiar with each other, so the game was also exciting. Both sides launched a fierce battle throughout the game. There were nearly 30 set pieces in total, and the game was interrupted many times due to player injuries...

Brazil first won a penalty kick in the final stage of the first half, which was scored by defender Rafael, and the team went into the halftime break with a 1-0 lead.

After the half-time break, the Colombian team immediately broke through with speed on the wing and made a cross, but Otavalo made a powerful shot in front of the goal to return the favor!

In the end, Brazil defeated Colombia with a goal in the last minute of regular time and advanced with a score of 2-1! The Colombian U20 team had to leave the game in frustration...

Li Qi was more concerned about the evening match in Tilburg. After dinner, he held a tactical meeting with the coaching staff for the next day. Before he had time to digest and sort out the situation, Li Qi quickly turned on the TV to watch the 20/20 final between the Chinese U1 team and the German U8 team. The match had already started for almost 10 minutes...

Li Qi, who had just opened the elevator, oh no, turned on the TV, was surprised to find that the score was already 1 to 1...

At the Tilburg William II Stadium, in the 4th minute, Cheng Tao scored directly from a free kick, giving the Chinese team a dream start.

The goal came from a passing error by the German team's midfield. Cheng Tao intercepted the ball and dribbled forward quickly. Shuang had no choice but to defend and commit a foul.

The Chinese team got a free kick opportunity 25 meters away from the goal, slightly to the left of the middle. Lu Lin covered the ball, Cheng Tao took the penalty kick, and shot the free kick with his right foot. The ball drew a beautiful arc, passed over the top of the wall, and then fell rapidly into the net on the left side of the goal...

This was Cheng Tao's second goal in this World Youth Championship, and it was also his second time to score against the German U20 team after the last warm-up match.

But Germany immediately organized an effective attack after the restart: in the 5th minute, Gentler took advantage of the Chinese goalkeeper Yang Cheng's mistake in saving the ball to equalize the score.

After the German team restarted the ball, they quickly passed the ball to De Lula, who quickly broke through on the right side and made a cross directly under the pressure of Zhao Ming...

Chinese team goalkeeper Yang Cheng made a serious mistake when he went out to get the ball: the ball hit Yang Cheng's chest and bounced out. Gentler picked up the bouncing ball in the right corner of the small penalty area, then kicked the ball with his right foot into the middle of the empty goal, equalizing the score.

This is also the result of the Chinese team's mistakes being too excited and too tired: being too excited will induce players to make more radical choices, while being too tired will cause technical movements to be deformed, resulting in low-level mistakes.

Taking advantage of a timeout due to a foul in the front court of the Chinese team, Li Qi had the opportunity to watch the replay of the first two goals; and gradually learned more about the pre-match deployment of this game from the commentary of the commentator...

本场比赛是华德两国U20代表队在40天内的第二度交手，两队在5月12日曾为备战此次世青赛而打过一场热身赛，当时双方以2比2的平分握手言和。

华国U20代表队在小组赛阶段以三战全胜B组头名身份晋级16强，而德国U20代表队则是一胜一平一负以D组第三的身份获得了1/8决赛的参赛资格。

In this match, for the Chinese team, Zhu Ting, who scored a goal in the second round of the group match against Ukraine and received a red card due to emotional excitement, continued to be absent due to suspension. Cui Peng returned to the starting lineup after the expiration of his suspension and partnered with Zou Haibin as a double defensive midfielder, and Deng Tao also returned to the starting lineup and appeared at the left back position. Yuan Weiwei, who played the whole game in the last match, sat on the bench, and the other nine positions maintained the personnel configuration when playing against Panama.

As for the German team, the starting lineup arranged by head coach Skibe was closest to the one when they defeated Egypt 2-0 in the first group match. There were only two changes compared to the starting lineup of that game. Nicky Adler and Reinhard replaced Frese and Senessier, while the absolute main players Schoun, De Lula and Gentler who rested in the last round of the group stage all returned to the starting lineup.

It seems that the loss to Argentina in the last round of the group stage in order to secure the third place in the group and challenge the Chinese team was indeed intentional by the German head coach.

On the contrary, the Chinese team's main lineup basically played all three group stage games and did not get enough rest.

Back to the game, the Chinese team, whose score was tied, adopted a forward-pressing style of play, while the German national youth team used their good physical fitness and active pressing in the midfield to fight against the Chinese team.

Although he knew the result, Li Qi couldn't help but worry about the Chinese team. They were not at an advantage physically, and their rotation and physical reserves were not as good as their opponents, and they were still playing high-pressure defense... When they were exhausted in the second half, they were bound to collapse.

In the 15th minute, German team's Nicky Adler intercepted the ball in the midfield and quickly dribbled forward and passed the ball to Jensen in the middle at the front of the penalty area. Jensen took a low shot directly from outside the penalty area...

In fact, this was a good opportunity, but Jensen's decision was not a good choice. The shot was a bit hasty, and the angle, strength and suddenness were all poor. The ball was blocked by the brave Chinese goalkeeper Yang Cheng with his foot.

After the German team missed the opportunity, the Chinese team got the chance!

In the 19th minute, after receiving the out-of-bounds ball from Tan Wangsong, Gao Lin used his body to protect the ball near the right bottom line in the penalty area and deliberately waited for the German team's defenders to grab the ball...

Germany's Shuang was indeed caught in the trap, and when he was pressing, he was a little reckless and knocked Gao Lin down with his right leg from behind...

Argentine referee Elizondo decisively awarded a penalty kick. Cheng Tao took the penalty and calmly shot the ball into the left corner with his right foot.

Although German goalkeeper Rene Adler made the correct judgment, the angle was too tricky and the ball still went into the net.

The Chinese team took the lead again... But Li Qi also knew that as the Chinese team's physical strength continued to decline, the rest of the game would gradually fall into the control of the Germans; unless the Chinese team decisively retreated and defended Zone 3 to the death to wear out the German team...

But the young and energetic Chinese team still hopes to compete with the German team in the midfield and frontcourt... Then the German team can once again take advantage of the Chinese team's mistakes caused by the double buffs of over-excitement and over-fatigue.

Sure enough, the German team soon got their chance.

In the 30th minute of the game, Jancker passed the ball high from the right midfield to behind the Chinese team's defense line. Gentler, who was in an offside position, stood still and did not participate in the attack, while Nikki Adler successfully countered the offside from the back row...

All the Chinese team's defenders raised their arms to indicate offside and did not chase back immediately. Nicky Adler, who was not guarded, faced the goalkeeper Yang Cheng on the right side of the penalty area. He stopped the ball with his right foot, adjusted calmly, and then shot a half-high ball with the inside of his right foot. The ball flew over Yang Cheng's head and fell into the net, equalizing the score again.

It was less than 10 minutes before the Chinese team took the lead for the second time... Obviously, the German team's two consecutive quick equalizers also put great psychological pressure on the Chinese team, aggravating the team's physical consumption and the decline in overall performance.

In the second half of the first half, the Chinese team did not create much threat: Cui Peng's shot from the middle after receiving a pass from the wing was too forced and flew high out of the baseline; Cheng Tao received the opponent's clearance outside the penalty area and shot directly, but the German goalkeeper Adler easily caught the ball due to lack of power.

上半时比赛，虽然华国U20代表队与德国U20代表队是以2比2的平分进入中场休息；但明显30分钟后，华国队整体的表现和转速都开始回落了……

At the beginning of the second half, the German team made the first substitution, replacing Reinhard with Comper, strengthening the running and pressure in the front court; the effect was immediate, and the German team began to take over the game and got more opportunities...

In the 50th minute, De Lula made a tactical corner kick and crossed the ball from the left, but the ball was blocked by Feng Xiaoting, the captain and central defender of the Chinese team. De Lula got the ball again and shot directly from a small angle, but the ball hit the side net, causing a false alarm.

Three minutes later, under defensive pressure, Cui Peng knocked down Gentler from behind on the right side of the backcourt and was given a yellow card warning.

In the 57th minute, both teams made substitutions at the same time. Zhao Yijiao replaced Hao Junmin, who was exhausted and performed poorly, and partnered with Cui Peng to play as a double defensive midfielder, and moved Zou Haibin to Hao Junmin's original position to play as a right winger; the German team made adjustments to the forward line, replacing Nicky Adler with Senesier, and continued to strengthen the running and pressure in the frontcourt.

Soon the German team's substitutions had an effect: in the 63rd minute, Tan Wangsong made a low-level mistake when he was about to head the ball in front of the penalty area! The ball was directly intercepted by Jensen, who adjusted one step and went straight to the middle to shoot. Yang Cheng saved the team again, falling to the ground on the small penalty area line and blocking the ball with his legs...

In the 70th minute, the Chinese team had a chance to lead the score again, but the German team made a mistake. Rene Adler made a mistake in receiving Matip's back pass, giving the Chinese team a corner kick: Cheng Tao's corner kick from the left side directly found Gao Lin who was lurking in the front point, and the latter headed the ball but it went wide of the far corner... He failed to seize the opportunity.

In the 72nd minute, De Lula passed the ball back with his heel on the right side, Jancker made a cross at a 45-degree angle, and Gentler's header went slightly wide. The German team continued to put pressure on the Chinese team in the frontcourt...

The Chinese team only had Zhao Yijiao, who came on as a substitute, who had sufficient physical strength to keep up with the German team's pace and create some opportunities...

In the 73rd minute, the Chinese team sent a quick throw-in from the left side of the front court. Lu Lin lightly touched Gao Lin in the penalty area. This time, the German defender learned from his experience and did not rush to grab the ball again. But this also gave Gao Lin space and time to handle the ball. Gao Lin slightly dribbled back and passed the ball to the middle. Zhao Yi kicked the ball low and was blocked by Adler flying to the side and went out of the baseline...

Cheng Tao sent another corner kick from the left, Comper cleared the ball and headed it out. Zhao Yijiao wanted to replicate the wonderful performance in the first round of the group stage, and he shot with his right foot from 26 meters outside the penalty area! Unfortunately, the ball did not hit the net this time, but hit the top of the goalpost and bounced out of the bottom line. The fans at the scene exclaimed...

At the last moment, the Chinese team, which had been firmly suppressed by the German team in the half, still had a chance to win the game in advance through a counterattack...

In the 87th minute, Zhao made a counterattack from the backcourt and made a cross after breaking through on the left. Cheng Tao, who was not guarded, jumped up near the penalty spot and headed the ball, but because he was exhausted and his movements were out of shape, his header not only had no power but also the angle was too straight. The rare chance to score was easily confiscated by German goalkeeper Adler.

The Chinese team failed to seize the opportunity in their counterattack, but Germany finally got the chance to end the game through continuous pressure.

In the 89th minute, the German team once again patiently organized an attack, and Tomik dribbled the ball to the front of the penalty area and suddenly passed the ball to the right. De Lula received the ball and passed it near the baseline...

The Chinese team's midfielders and backcourt players were unable to make up for the deficit, so Matip, who was not marked, jumped high in the middle of the penalty area and headed the ball, easily sending the cross into the far corner...

Although Yang Cheng tried his best to block the ball, the ball still bounced into the far corner of the goal...

With the winning goal, the German team reversed the score to 3 to 2!

In the end, the Chinese team's counterattack in the 3-minute stoppage time was futile. The German U20 team fell behind twice, but equalized the score twice and finally surpassed it to defeat the Chinese U3 team 2-20 and advance to the quarter-finals.

Four days later, the German team will compete with the winner of another round of 4, Brazil, for a place in the semi-finals in Tilburg.

……

In Li Qi's opinion, the performance of the Chinese team in this game was also remarkable: they took the lead over the German team twice, and still had a chance to kill the game before the German team at the last moment... but unfortunately they failed.

If the Chinese team could rotate and distribute their energy better in the group stage, instead of overdrawing in the three group matches, there might be a completely different result...

But isn’t this process and result exactly the tuition that this Chinese team, which is very young in terms of age and competition experience, must pay?

In any case, the Chinese team won all the games in the group stage, and after successfully qualifying, they fought hard against Germany in the knockout stage, but unfortunately stopped in the round of 2 with a score of 3 to , which still made the fans very satisfied.

After all, in just four games, the Chinese U20 team scored a total of 11 goals, and their terrifying offensive power amazed the world!

……

But the thing is, because the performance of this Chinese youth team was too amazing, it gave the fans too high expectations.

Everyone felt that Chinese football was about to rise after entering the 2002 World Cup finals and the current World Youth Championship in the Netherlands.

Ironically, the 2005 World Youth Championship in the Netherlands was the last performance of Chinese football on the international stage for 20 years...

Until Li Qi went to the City of Angels in the United States to hold a technology forum in 2024, China had not yet qualified to participate in the finals of the world competition again (the competition as the host country does not count)...

……

Li Qi turned off the TV and felt lost, with an inexplicable melancholy...

In that case, let’s review the sexy photos and MMS that Chiara has sent me in the past few days before going to bed!

"As expected of a fully mature young lady, she has developed really well..."

Hehe, what a sweet dream...