Chapter 24: The Final Battle in Spain (Part 1)

  Rush to the top on Monday, continue to ask for recommendation votes and member clicks ^_^

  The Spanish team had 26 shots throughout the game and maintained a terrifying possession rate of 62% (against Argentina), showcasing their strong attacking power. The midfield core of Spain, Fabregas, even scored two goals by himself...

  "Is that Fabregas? The first world-class player I've faced since crossing over? Although it's just a future world-class player......", Gao Jun silently stared at the TV screen in his hotel room, and for the first time since crossing over, he felt an unprecedented surge of determination.

  Now 16-year-old Fabregas has already possessed a very high level of competition, to know that more than a month later he represented Arsenal in the official match, and played well, his strength can be seen at a glance, it is really enviable talent.

  However, Gao Jun was confident and would not lose to him. Although he had only recently entered puberty, his physical qualities, except for height, had already surpassed those of his previous half-crippled body. After three years of youth training, he had fully adapted to this new body, and his ball skills had almost completely recovered to the level of his heyday. Some techniques even exceeded that of his past self. It can be said that Gao Jun had now fully surpassed his former self. This means that when Gao Jun played as a second striker or winger, his strength had already reached the top domestic and Asian levels. He was only limited by his body not being fully developed, which made him worry about getting injured, so in most cases, Gao Jun's way of playing soccer was somewhat restricted.

  However, football matches are not one-on-one, and Fabregas' teammates are undoubtedly stronger than Gao Lin's teammates. Moreover, the Spanish team is even more terrifying with their increasingly mature possession-based style of play. Against Argentina, a technically strong team, they managed to achieve a 62% possession rate. If they were to face China, a much weaker technical team, it's possible that they could exceed 70%. At that point, Chinese players would be chasing after the ball all the time, exhausting themselves to death. Especially since most of the Chinese players' physical fitness is not great, and they had already expended a lot of energy in the semi-finals...

  However, this Spanish team was not the one that won N World Championships in later generations. The possession-based tactics were not without weaknesses either. Gao Jun was confident about how to break through and had special tactical training with several frontcourt players.

  Now Gao Jun is gradually discovering that although Coach Liu Chunming's professional level is not high, he dares to give him the power, which is not common. Maybe this guy will continue to lead in the future and there's nothing wrong with that. Of course, if he has a choice, Gao Jun still hopes to have a high-level coach, after all, the problems that appear on the field during the game are definitely not as clear as those seen off the field...

  "Hello, football fans in front of the TV, I'm Huang Jianxiang. Here is CCTV Sports Channel. Next, we will live broadcast the final match of the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in Helsinki, Finland. The two teams competing are China National Youth Football Team and Spain National Youth Football Team. This match will be commented by me and Zhang Lu, who you all know...".

  Inside CCTV's studio, famous football commentator Huang Jianxiang and guest Zhang Lu chatted enthusiastically about the previous matches' brilliant performance of the Chinese youth team before the game started.

  "Coach Zhang, this time the Chinese national youth team performed exceptionally well in the Finnish World Youth Championship. The last match against Brazil was even more impressive, winning over the fans with a thrilling comeback and reversal of fortunes. Whether it's tactics or mental strength, this is a rare achievement in recent years. Can you analyze why this national youth team has achieved such outstanding results?" Huang Jianxiang asked Zhang Lü with a smile.

  "Haha (Zhang Haha), first of all, this is a tactical route, Jianxiang you see, Guo Shao's ground ball passing and cutting technology is quite advanced, just like our Guoan's small and quick style (by the way, self-praise), very advanced, haha." Zhang Lu pointed at the screen playing the previous few matches' highlights and said with a smile.

  "Coach Zhang is right," Huang Jianxiang echoed in agreement. "Chinese football can only have hope if it persists with this kind of technical and tactical play for a long time."

  Then, hehe, this team has a core player with a level that is one step higher. Although Gao Jun is not tall, he has already scored 8 goals and had an assist in this tournament, second only to Spain's Cesc Fabregas (5 goals and 6 assists), and he also played one less game. The performance of these two players far exceeds other players and can be called the twin stars of this tournament. Which one is more powerful is also a major highlight of this match, hehe. Zhang Lu continued to analyze.

  "This Gao Lin was previously called 'China's Maradona' by Xu Genbao, and I thought he was exaggerating at the time. Now looking at him, this kid is really something! ", Huang Jianxiang couldn't help but praise, but immediately worried, "But Chinese football has had too many 'injuries that last forever', I hope he won't follow in the footsteps of Li Hua Yun and others..."

  Zhang Lu also followed a sigh, but he thought that the excellent performance of Gao Jun in the World Junior Championships should be able to attract many European professional clubs, even the top five leagues. If they can seize the opportunity to go abroad as soon as possible, the chances of success will be much greater than staying at home...

  As the two teams took to the field on screen, Huang Jianxiang hastily ended the casual conversation between them, cleared his throat and said, "Alright, the match is about to begin. Whether or not the Chinese team can win, they have already made history for Chinese football. I believe all Chinese fans, like me, hope they can go further..."

  Few people could have anticipated that China would score the first goal of the match, and the way they scored was even more unexpected to almost everyone...

  "Is this... considered a long pass?", Huang Jianshang asked with a speechless expression.

  "It's okay, I guess." Zhang Lu said thoughtfully, and even forgot to say his signature "heh heh". "I wonder how Lang Zhong was pushed to the edge position, but this kind of long pass is really rare..."

  "What's this all about?" Huang Jianxiang asked curiously.

  "Generally, when we talk about long passes, it refers to passing the ball to the middle of the field, where a tall striker can head the ball directly at the goal or pass it to a teammate to shoot. However, the Chinese youth team is now placing their taller players on the wings and passing the ball to the wings as well. When passing to the middle, the tall striker often faces two or more opponents' defenders, so even with a height advantage, it's not easy to handle the ball under pressure. But when passing to the wing, there is usually only one opponent defender, and the full-backs are generally shorter than the center-backs, so our taller players have a significant advantage. They can head the ball to teammates or use their physical advantage to push away the opponent's full-back and bring the ball down before calmly passing it back to the middle. The goal just scored was like that - Lang Zhen is 1.85 meters tall, while the defender marking him was only 1.70 meters, really putting him at a disadvantage. However, Lang Zhen's cross-field pass earlier was actually quite ordinary, but Gao Jun managed to get to the first point and score, his ability to seize opportunities is really strong..."