Chapter 408 We are all waiting for the day when Chinese football rises!
When Su Dong walked out of Amsterdam International Airport, he saw a young Chinese man holding up a paper card with a Chinese character written on it, Su.
Su Dong immediately stepped forward, came straight to the man, and asked: "Are you Yang Yang?"
The man was obviously stunned for a moment, and did not recognize the man for a moment, but soon he exclaimed, "Su...Mr. Su."
"Hello, thank you for picking me up at the plane."
Yang Yang was flattered and shook Su Dong's hand, "It's my honor, please follow me."
Following Yang Yang, Su Dong came to the parking lot.
We got in the car and drove out of the airport quickly.
…
Yang Yang is an overseas Chinese who has lived in the Netherlands for many years with his uncle. It is said that he runs a Chinese restaurant near Almere. He also undertakes the reception of some domestic tourists in the Netherlands, especially near Amsterdam.
This time when Su Dong went to the Netherlands, he contacted Yang Yang through a friend, who was responsible for arranging the itinerary and pick-up.
"Mr. Su, I can't recognize you at all with your sunglasses on. If you weren't so tall, I wouldn't have recognized you." Yang Yang said with envy. He was only a little over 1.80 meters tall and thought he was already very tall, but when he met Su Dong, who was 1.95 meters tall, he felt a little inferior.
Su Dong smiled, he felt Yang Yang's sincerity.
For example, Yang Yang obviously took Su Dong's height into consideration, so he carefully arranged a car with more space to pick him up.
This made Su Dong very satisfied.
"You may not believe this, Mr. Su, but my uncle and I are both your fans. Although we are overseas Chinese, we all feel that you are the pride of all Chinese people!"
Su Dong hurriedly thanked him and then asked about some things about the Netherlands.
He was going to stay in the Netherlands for some time, so he had to ask around to see what fun places there were.
Yang Yang has lived in Amsterdam for many years and is very familiar with everything here.
"By the way, is Utrecht far from Amsterdam?" Su Dong asked with concern.
"It's not far. After watching the game, you can travel to and from cities like Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam. To be honest, the Netherlands is very small, just this tiny." Yang Yang showed the end of his little finger.
Su Dong laughed. He was not surprised by this.
In fact, if you stay in the country for a long time, you will always feel that everything is very big and far away.
For example, two famous cities, Shanghai and the capital should be very different.
This illusion extends abroad.
In fact, many foreign countries have a very small land area.
Not to mention the Netherlands, as for Spain, the distance from Madrid to Barcelona is only five or six hundred kilometers, and it only takes more than five hours to drive by yourself. Valencia to Barcelona is even closer.
Whenever David Silva had a holiday, he would immediately run to Barcelona, live in Su Dong's villa, eat and drink for free, and was not polite to Su Dong at all. He simply treated Su Dong's home as his own.
The same goes for Messi.
Sometimes Su Dong wondered if being shorter meant he had the privilege of being protected and given preferential treatment.
…
After arriving in Utrecht, Su Dong quietly checked into a hotel that had been booked in advance.
Su Dong’s requirements for hotels are not high. The only requirement is that they must have a complete gymnasium. If there is a swimming pool, it would be even more perfect.
Yang Yang helped Su Dong complete the check-in procedures and accompanied him to the hotel restaurant for dinner.
During the conversation, the World Youth Championship held in Utrecht was mentioned, and Su Dong came for this purpose.
This year, the Chinese National Youth Team also made it through the group stage with great difficulty and entered the round of 16.
"Did you come here specifically to watch the National Youth Team's game?" Yang Yang asked with concern.
Su Dong shook his head. "No, I have two friends who are participating in the World Youth Championship. They invited me to come."
"Oh." Yang Yang was a little disappointed, but asked again: "Then will you go to watch the match between the National Youth Team and Germany?"
Su Dong thought about it, especially after seeing Yang Yang's expectant eyes, he smiled and said, "Let's see, I'll go when I have time."
Although he could tell the talk was perfunctory, Yang Yang was still very happy. He introduced to Su Dong the three group matches of the national youth team in the Netherlands and talked about the prospects of the national youth team.
"Many people are very optimistic about the players of this national youth team and believe that they are in no way inferior to European players of the same age."
At this point, Yang Yang looked at Su Dong again, "I think you should go and watch their games. If possible, help them. Don't continue to play football in the country. This will delay their development."
Su Dong was quite surprised. He didn't expect that Yang Yang, a Chinese overseas who had lived in the Netherlands for many years, was so concerned about Chinese football.
"Don't look at me like that. Although my nationality is no longer Chinese, my heart still belongs to China, so I am still a Chinese fan. There are many people like me around me. I believe that there are countless Chinese people around the world who are waiting for the day when Chinese football rises."
Su Dong was really touched.
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Su Dong finally appeared in the Wilhelm II Stadium where the Chinese National Youth Team played against Germany.
This was also the first game of the round of 16 knockouts. There were quite a few fans in the stands, thousands of them, so no one noticed Su Dong's presence, including the national youth team players on the field.
Strictly speaking, they are of the same age as Su Dong.
If he had not been banned by the Football Association, Su Dong could also join this team and represent the Chinese team in the World Youth Championship.
But from beginning to end, he was not taken into consideration.
Su Dong didn't know much about the situation of domestic players, but after watching this game, he really felt that the level of this group of peers was quite high, and several players left a deep impression on him.
For example, Chen Tao who scored twice, Feng Xiaoting who played like a general on the back line, Gao Lin who played as the center in the 4-5-1 formation, Zhou Haibin who was the midfield organizer, Hao Junmin who played on the wing, etc., are all very capable players.
The defense is a little bit worse, but compared with the German team, the strength is comparable.
Of course, in Su Dong's opinion, the current German team is in an awkward period of transition, and its overall level is unlikely to rank too high among the youth teams in European football.
But no matter what, the Chinese National Youth Team was able to play against the German team like this, which was an honor despite the defeat.
…
After watching the game, Su Dong did not accept Yang Yang's suggestion to visit the national youth team's locker room and hotel.
He knew that there must be senior officials from the Football Association accompanying the team, and he didn't want to contact those people.
But he still called his agent Mendes and introduced to him some of the situations he saw in this game and several players he found who at least have the ability to play in the Portuguese Super League, Dutch Eredivisie and other teams.
"Please keep an eye out for me to see if there are any suitable teams and try to bring them all out."
Su Dong still has confidence in the strength of this group of compatriots. They are not yet strong enough in the four major leagues, but there will be no problem in gaining a foothold in the Portuguese Super League or the Eredivisie.
Among them, the two or three strongest players, such as Chen Tao and Feng Xiaoting, have opportunities in the lower-level teams in the four major leagues.
Gao Lin is a very distinctive center forward. Pelle, the center forward of the Italian team in this World Youth Championship, is very good, and Gao Lin is no worse than him.
From beginning to end, no one knew that Su Dong had watched the National Youth Team's game.
It was not until shortly afterwards, when Mendes found the players with invitation letters from European teams, that they were surprised to find that Su Dong had watched their games and paved the way for them to enter the European league.
…
Su Dong came to the Netherlands mainly because he received two invitations, one from Messi from Argentina and the other from David Silva from Spain, both of whom are his best friends.
Interestingly, there is not even a single Barcelona player in the Spanish national youth team.
Fabregas is the only player who came from Barcelona's youth training camp, but he currently plays for Arsenal.
Even though Juanfran was a marginal player in Real Madrid and couldn't even play in the game, he performed very well in the national youth team, scoring twice and helping Spain beat Turkey 3-0 to advance to the quarterfinals.
David Silva played at home and partnered with Fabregas, and his performance was also remarkable.
Argentina's game started a little later than Spain's, and the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe finally caught up after much hustle and bustle.
The game was difficult. Argentina conceded a goal first, but then Messi equalized the score for Argentina. It was not until the stoppage time that a full-back scored the winning goal.
…
In the following days, Su Dong first secretly went to the bases in Argentina and Spain to meet Messi and David Silva, and then traveled around the Netherlands, relaxing and enjoying his vacation.
After entering the quarterfinals, Argentina began to get better.
First, in the quarter-finals, they defeated Spain 3-1 thanks to Messi's assist and goal. Then in the semi-finals, they defeated Brazil 2-1 again thanks to Messi's outstanding performance and goals.
Finally, in the final of the World Youth Championship, Messi scored twice with two penalties, helping Argentina beat Nigeria 2-1.
It is worth mentioning that in the stands of the World Youth Championship final, Su Dong also met Barcelona's technical director Begiristain, who came specially to observe Messi. He watched the entire game with Su Dong and was full of praise for Messi's performance.
"We have decided to renew Messi's contract until 2010. The salary is satisfactory to them. Rijkaard will give him more opportunities in the new season. I believe you will have a better cooperation."
In the Barcelona locker room, the whole team knows that Messi is Su Dong's little follower. Even when Messi joined the first team, it was Su Dong who recommended him. The two also had many wonderful cooperations on the court, such as the big reversal in the Champions League final.
Letting Messi, who played in the Champions League final, play in the World Youth Championship is definitely a dimensionality reduction attack, and Messi's performance lived up to expectations.
Barcelona is full of expectations for Sudon, Messi and Iniesta. These three players are very young, enough to occupy the core position of Barcelona in the next ten years and ensure the team's combat effectiveness.
Su Dong will not interfere in these matters, and he is not worried about Messi's future at all.
After last season's performance, if Barcelona still doesn't realize Messi's value, then the management is too amateur.
Su Dong is full of expectations for the new season.
He feels that as long as this Barcelona team is managed properly, there is a real hope of winning three consecutive championships.
(End of this chapter)
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