The U19 National Youth, who was placed in the Chinese Second League for training, finally, in the fourth round of the confrontation with the leaders of Wuhan Three Towns on November 5, ended the three-game losing streak with a first victory.
Poster source: Wuhan Three Towns Club
More than hard work, insufficient strength, it seems that this team left a simple impression on the outside world in the previous few games.
Under the general environment of the Chinese Second League, against the name of the national team, the U19 National Youth League has a young face, and the understanding of the professional arena is still deepening.
Forcing this group of immature children on the professional stage ahead of schedule, now it seems to be somewhat cruel.
But growing up, there will always be pain.
The three defeats were painful, but fortunately the first victory came unexpectedly, sweeping away the haze.
Awkward large "meeting"
The National Youth Team in the 2001 age group carries the mission of the next round of Chinese football in the Olympic qualifiers.
But at the end of May this year, the first time they met with many fans in the air was caused by an off-field disturbance.
The U19 National Youth is in the Chinese Second Division.
Image source: Chinese football team official micro
The names of Tao Qianglong, Liu Zhurun, Peng Hao, Ren Lihao, Han Dong and He Longhai have not appeared in the team roster for a long time.
At that time, they sneaked out to drink during the training camp, causing an uproar in the public opinion.
Young people inevitably make mistakes and detours.
But on the young Chinese footballers, it is not easy to forgive them with the phrase "inevitable".
In the subsequent notification, the Chinese Football Association severely reprimanded the six disciplinary players for “seriously violating the national team’s epidemic prevention and control regulations for going out privately”. Not only did they close their doors to enter the national team, but it also imposed a 6-month ban. Severe punishment.
Among them, Tao Qianglong has always been the trump card on the offensive end of this team.
Because of his outstanding ability, he has already appeared in the Super League.
During the offseason, he transferred from Hebei Huaxia Fortune to the Dalian native, but because of this farce, Tao Qianglong’s debut on behalf of the new club could only be delayed for more than half a year.
Screenshot of the Chinese Football Association official website announcement
After the storm, far more than the six penalty players were affected, and the entire team was also brewing transformation in silence.
According to reports, the current National Youth Team requires players, coaching staff, and work teams to line up to eat at the restaurant for three meals a day, and all wear uniforms.
After the meal, the players have to tidy up and clean themselves, and can leave after obtaining the consent of the coach or team leader.
Strict internal management has become the norm for the team, and the whole team is obviously reluctant to repeat the same problem.
In the blink of an eye, nearly half a year later, at the end of the month, the ban on six players from participating in various competitions under the Chinese Football Association will be lifted.
And the U19 National Youth, which lacks 6 fresh troops, is also moving forward.
Go to the professional arena
Due to the epidemic, this national youth team missed many competition opportunities in 2020, and this time, the stage they were sent to changed from the Youth League to the Second Division.
From the perspective of outsiders, as the third-level league of professional football in China, the confrontation intensity and technical level of the second team does not seem to be too strong, but after the first three rounds of the game, the results are obvious.
Image source: Chinese football team official micro
The eighteen or nineteen-year-old boy is at the age of running and jumping.
The U19 national youth, representing the highest level in the country of the same age, first entered the second grade arena, as if a group of children who could not swim fell into the endless ocean.
Regardless of the result or the process, for them, such a game is still too difficult and too cruel.
In the first match, facing Hunan Xiangtao, the 15th place in the South of the Central Committee of the season, the National Youth team suffered a reversal after an advanced goal. In the second match, Zibo Cuju was defeated 1:3; the third match was against Shanghai. Improved, but still lost 0:1.
Until the fourth game.
The fourth opponent that China National Youth encountered in Zhongyi was not easy to deal with.
The three towns of Wuhan are the leading teams in the Haigeng Division after three rounds.
From the perspective of empiricism, the National Youth certainly has no chance.
But after being the first to score a half-court shot by his opponent, the national youth, who knew the shame and was brave, began to rush for the reversal.
In the first and second halves, they scored two goals in a row. In the end, they won the first victory of Zhongyi 2:1.
Before the start of the season, coach Cheng Yaodong made it clear that participating in this competition hopes that the players will be able to improve their skills and tactics and physical confrontation.
Every game has to go all out to win, and hope that the players will gradually increase their confidence through the game.
Obviously, the inclusion of the U19 National Youth on the list of teams in the second league in the new season was negotiated by all parties. The purpose is to allow this team to get more opportunities to practice with matches and grow as soon as possible.
For this reason, China B also made many adjustments and concessions.
For example, the Haigeng Division where the National Youth League is located has one more team than the Luxi Division on the other side. In each round of competition, there will also be a bye team in the Haigeng Division.
Therefore, there will be differences in the total rounds of the single round of the first stage of the two competition areas.
Image source: Chinese football team official micro
It has been determined that the U19 National Youth only participates in the first stage of the game, so their trip to the Second Division will be over after fighting against all the teams in the Haigeng Division. There is no so-called downgrade pressure.
As of now, the first 4 battles of the 10 groups have come to an end.
Nearly half of the journey, they worked hard to move forward in the struggle, and they have begun to bear fruit.
All for the future
In all fairness, the Chinese second team is by no means an ideal imaginary enemy of the U19 national youth entrusted.
Because of age restrictions, any national team of a special age group, the real enemies they face in the competition, must at least meet the basic requirements of a similar age.
From this point of view, the experience accumulation brought by B in the battle may be discounted a bit.
But as long as it is a competition, there will be gains.
From the Youth League to the professional stage, the pressure and the intensity of the confrontation on the players will usher in a qualitative leap.
The moment the U19 National Youth Zhongyi scored the first goal.
In the first round, the Naxi guy Duan Dezhi, who scored the team's first goal in the second round, played the key role again. He came off the bench and scored a lore in the 84th minute of the game.
In an official interview with the Chinese Football Association a few days ago, Duan Dezhi said frankly that the professional league is quite different from the previous Youth League.
Image source: Chinese football team official micro
To sum up, there are three aspects: the experience gap allows the second-tier players to have more control over the game; the second-tier players will use their bodies reasonably; the rhythm changes are obvious.
Duan Dezhi used these two sentences: "Playing in the Youth Super League is often a big foot. If you make a mistake, it is usually fine and you can get it back."
U19 is a critical stage for adolescents to mature inside and truly enter the ranks of adults.
The change from Qingchao to Zhongyi is a portrayal of the inner transformation of these children.
Even if this day came suddenly to them, there is no buffer.
Reality is reality.
The "adults" in their eyes have created a valuable training opportunity for the National Youth Team and put these players on a higher and more difficult platform to experience.
The task of the children is to bravely fight.
This experience will slowly ferment in the next Olympic cycle.
Duan Dezhi scored the goal instantly.
The first victory after a three-game losing streak is "really fragrant" for this group of growing young people.
In the next 6 games, the U19 national youth boys may still lose some, but everyone knows that victory or defeat is not the meaning of their going to Haigeng to compete in the second league.
They came here to grow up, for someday in the future, to use experience to control the game, use their bodies reasonably, and know how to change the rhythm on the court is the U19 Chinese men's football team.
There are still four years to go before the 2024 Paris Olympics. There is actually quite a lot of time left for this Chinese team.
(Reporter Wang Sishuo)