Football: The immortal legend on the green field

After seeing off Xia Yalong and Nan Yong, Gao Haiyang returned to the office and looked at the Biluochun tea he had brewed for them on the table. It was still steaming, but the two of them hadn't taken a single sip.

He picked up the ceramic cups and threw the two cups directly into the trash can in the corner. The Biluochun tea, which cost more than 500 yuan per two taels, continued to emit heat in the trash can.

He never drinks tea, only instant coffee. He bought such expensive Biluochun to entertain his superiors. Gao Haiyang felt it was a waste to give such good tea to such a person.

On June 2005, 6, the first row of the National Youth Team II reported for duty, including five returnees from overseas and two from Beijing.

On June 2005, 6, the second batch of the National Youth Team B reported for duty, with one player from Tianjin and one player from Hebei.

On June 2005, 6, the third batch of the National Youth Team B reported for duty, with one player from Jiangsu, one player from Henan and two players from Hubei.

On July 200, 7, the fourth batch of the National Youth Team B reported for duty, with two players from Shanghai, one from Zhejiang, two from Jilin, two from Sichuan, two from Guangdong, and one from Shaanxi.

At this point, all 23 members of the National Youth Team II are present.

On the morning of June 6th, in the National Olympic Team meeting room at Xianghe Base.

Relevant leaders of the Football Association, Ali Han's team, members of the coaching staff of the National Youth Team, more than one hundred media outlets across the country, and forty-five players in training for the National Youth Team sat neatly in their seats in the conference room.

Gao Haiyang looked at these players who came from all over the world and spoke different dialects with great satisfaction. Many of them had excitement and expectation in their eyes. This is the real hope of Chinese football, Gao Haiyang said to himself in his heart.

"There are 08 players of the right age for the 10 Olympics here. We will have a two-week training camp. The reason why we have called so many players to participate in the training camp is not just for the World Youth Championship in the Netherlands in a month. Our ultimate goal is the 10 World Cup in South Africa. This training camp can be said to be the first training camp for the World Cup national team."

Hearing Gao Haiyang's unexpected opening remarks, there was a buzz of discussion below, especially among the media friends. What the hell! Isn't this a meeting of the national youth team? How is it related to the national team?

Gao Haiyang paused for a moment, and when the discussion died down, he continued, "Don't be so short-sighted. The Japanese Football Association formulated a 10-year naturalization plan years ago. They even set out what kind of results the national team should achieve each year, what tasks the national Olympic team should have, what the national youth and national junior teams should accomplish, and how many children should be encouraged to play football each semester. You only see what kind of results Japanese football has achieved, but ignore their efforts. If the coaches, logistics support team and all the players present here only take the Netherlands World Youth Championship as their goal, then I'm sorry, you can go home."

"Qualifying from Asia for the World Cup in South Africa and winning the final is the ultimate goal of this training camp."

"Of course, there are still phased goals before that, which are the World Youth Championship in the Netherlands and the 08 Olympics. The goal for the 08 Beijing Olympics is to qualify at least from the group stage. My goal is to reach the semi-finals."

"After talking about the last two goals, let me talk about our current goal, which is the World Youth Championship in the Netherlands, which will open on July 7. As the first goal of our current training camp, our minimum goal is to reach the semi-finals."

"The National Youth Team has been established for two years. Head coach Krauchen has taught you everything you need to know, and the tactics you need to have arranged should have been ingrained in you! Apart from the on-the-spot instructions from the coach, it all depends on your on-the-spot performance!"

"But what makes me sad is that the country has spent so much money to train you, and the fans are looking at you with expectation. Even if you can give them a little hope and a little happiness, we can't satisfy them with just this little expectation. And what do some of your players do? They smoke, drink, avoid training, go to nightclubs, gamble, and play match-fixing... They do all these five vices. Tell me, can such players give the fans what they want?"

"If you ask me, based on what you have done, can you give them the happiness they want? This is totally impossible. If it is impossible, why should we spend taxpayers' money on you? Such players are not what the Football Association wants, let alone what the majority of fans want."

"Since some of you players don't know how to be self-disciplined, you have no right to enjoy the glory that the National Youth Team brings you. If you don't want others to know, then you must not have done it. Can what some of you do escape the eyes of the public?"

"At 15 p.m. on the 22th, the National Youth Team One and the National Youth Team Two will have a training match. We will invite all media to watch. We will select a -man roster from this match to go to the Netherlands to participate in the World Youth Championship. We will treat all of them equally, whether they are the five players who have returned from abroad, the newcomers, or the old national youth team members. Those who perform well will stay, and we will book tickets for you to the Netherlands."

"Those who don't perform well should not give up. We will create individual files for each of you here as the main force for the 10 World Cup in South Africa. Of course, in the process, there will be some personnel additions to meet the needs. For example, we will find that the latecomers are catching up. Another example is the over-age players in the 08 Olympics."

"We will strictly enforce the rules and regulations of the national team. On this basis, if we find smoking, drinking, gambling and other behaviors, we will remove the players who violate the discipline from the files. I mean what I say."

Now, we welcome Comrade Yang Yimin, Vice Chairman of the Football Association, to speak.

"Director Gao Haiyang has just said everything he needs to say. Your dormitories have been assigned and your daily necessities have been collected. In the remaining month, you will undergo a period of closed training here, so the first thing to do is to understand the management regulations of the national team..."

"Now I announce the management measures for the closed training of the National Youth Team, "... You must return to the dormitory before 10:30 p.m.; you must ask for leave if you go out on holidays, and you must return to the team before 11 p.m.; you are not allowed to stay out all night! You are not allowed to go to bars and drink! You are not allowed to smoke or gamble! You are not allowed to go out casually! You are not allowed to bring relatives to the base! You are not allowed to accept interviews without permission! You are not allowed to..."

So many "don'ts" and "musts" are much stricter than in the club's youth team. Some people have begun to quietly express their dissatisfaction. "Fuck! Is this a team training camp or a concentration camp?" Tan Wangsong muttered in dissatisfaction.

The five most senior national players from Dalian sat together. They had represented the country since the U17 national team. The other national youth team members gradually formed a circle around them. Zhou You, in particular, laughed disdainfully when he heard Tan Wangsong's words: "What a bunch of country bumpkins! You don't even know the rules of the national youth team and you're still here for training? Go home as soon as possible!"

Yang Yiming paused, then he stared at Tan Wangsong, and kept glancing at the player information on the side, and finally matched the face with the name: "Tan Wangsong! What did you say?"

"Ah? I didn't say anything..." Tan Wangsong didn't want to be expelled from the team on the first day, so he quickly forgot what he had just said.

Yang Yiming ignored him and continued to announce his "Three Major Disciplines and Eight Points of Attention."