Regardless of whether Lee Rongpyo really did not know that there was a player called Qin Xiong in China, Park Ji-sung still knew.
South Korea itself was not big, unlike China, which had a vast territory and abundant resources. All sorts of news from all over the world emerged endlessly. Park Ji-sung still paid attention to the domestic football news when he came to Europe. More than half a year ago, the news of South Korea's U18 representative team suffering a crushing defeat at the feet of China's U18 representative team had actually caused a stir in the South Korean football scene!
Strangely, that match did not have much of an effect on the news in China. Perhaps it was because there was no official reason for the match. A private match organized by the Tang Group could not be considered officially as a "national" event.
But since South Korea lost, the South Korean people naturally paid attention to it.
As an insider, Park Ji-sung did not think that the result of South Korea's defeat was unacceptable.
Whether it was South Korea or China, there was not a single country in Asia whose football development level was truly at the top of the world.
This was not linked to the results of the competition.
Take the Netherlands for example, or even Ajax as an example. In every age group, or even two age groups, the Netherlands had an endless number of talents. There was Van Der Vaart at 20, Hai Tinga at 19, Snede and De Jong at 18, and counting down, there was still more.
But what about South Korea?
Coincidentally, among the U18 representative team that participated in the competition, the only one who was truly talented was Park Chu-Young.
The difference between a country that was weak in football and a country that was strong in football was essentially the number of talents. South Korea could not be considered as an absolute powerhouse, so it was normal for there to be a gap in talent.
Perhaps China happened to have a talent in this batch of players, so it was not difficult to accept.
Park Ji-sung knew of Qin Xiong. After all, the South Korean media focused on Qin Xiong at that time. There were even panicked voices: Qin Xiong was just one of China's representative rising stars.
What Park Ji-sung did not expect was that he would compete with Qin Xiong in a foreign country so soon!
It was hard to say if Park Ji-sung had made any major mistakes during the match, but Park Ji-sung knew that he had been ambushed by Qin Xiong.
He only knew that there was a person called Qin Xiong, but he didn't know the characteristics of Qin Xiong's skills. For this match, he had researched and prepared the most for Van Der Vaart!
Before Qin Xiong came on, his restriction on Van Der Vaart was relatively successful. His help to the team in the offense was also very obvious.
But after Qin Xiong appeared, everything changed.
He went from being proactive to being passive.
If he could understand Qin Xiong's technical characteristics in advance, he would not have given Qin Xiong so many chances!
Moreover, Qin Xiong would not be able to pass him in such a cool and elegant manner at the last moment.
Was it a disgrace?
No, Park Ji-sung only saw it as a setback, an experience of failure.
With Qin Xiong's jersey on his shoulders, Park Ji-sung was looking forward to the next time he played against Qin Xiong, whether it was in the Netherlands, Europe, Asia, or the world!
.....
After leaving Philips Stadium, Ajax's team sat on the bus on the return journey. The atmosphere in the team was bursting. The players were singing and dancing in the back of the bus, celebrating their victory without restraint.
They had won the Dutch national derby, in an away game!
Some people sang, some people danced to the music. Qin Xiong had unknowingly become the center of attention. His teammates were willing to come up and chat with him. It was as if after the victory, everyone suddenly became able to talk about anything. The topics were like a tap that had been turned on, unable to be stopped!
They would vividly describe a small matter, such as the change in expression of a fan in the stands nearby, and add their own exaggerated performance and description to make everyone laugh after hearing it.
Many of his teammates were also not stingy with their words of praise. They were full of praise for Qin Xiong's performance on the field.
Qin Xiong felt happy in such an atmosphere, but he still had something on his mind.
He wanted to talk to the manager, Comain, not to ask for anything, but to answer his doubts in the game.
He was still growing. It could be said that every key game was an eye-opener for him. At the same time, he was good at divergent thinking, so there would be questions in his mind.
However, the coaching team sat in the front of the bus. Comain and his assistants did not stop the players from playing around in the bus. They seemed to have not taken off their work yet. They gathered together, with Comain as the center, as if they were secretly discussing something.
Qin Xiong did not want to go up and disturb them. On the one hand, he was afraid of disturbing his teammates who were enjoying the victory. On the other hand, he was also worried about disturbing Comain's work.
He did not know that the focus of Comain and his assistants' discussion was Qin Xiong!
Comain and Louis Van Gaal were obviously two very different managers. This had nothing to do with the level of achievement, but with the style of coaching and management.
Louis Van Gaal's "assertiveness" was very strong.
Just like he used to control everything at Ajax from top to bottom. He knew what he needed, and then he would dig and piece together his own ideal pattern. For example, if the First Team lacked a certain type of player, he would go to the youth team to see if there were any players who met the requirements and showed talent in this area. If there were, the club would focus on cultivating them and provide targeted services to the First Team.
However, Comain's coaching style did not have this kind of assertiveness. He was more like a manager who looked at the dishes and ate them.
He would use the resources in his hands to the extreme and use them to the best effect.
For example, if Louis Van Gaal thought that he needed a Zidane in his ideal lineup, then he would either let the club buy a Zidane, or he would cultivate a Zidane himself. He would work hard in this direction. Because of this, the group of Ajax geniuses from almost ten years ago, who were personally taught by Louis Van Gaal, presented such a dazzling picture.
On the other hand, Koeman would not ask for a Zidane because he might not realize that he needed a Zidane. If the team had Zidane, then he would use Zidane to create tactics. If not, then he would create suitable tactics according to the actual situation.
This was the most obvious difference between the two men.
In today's game, Comain took the initiative to replace Qin Xiong. Was it not a gamble?
The gamble was won!
And what would happen after the gamble was won?
Comain would re-examine Qin Xiong. What role should Qin Xiong play in this team? What were the limits of Qin Xiong? How could he let Qin Xiong join the team and let the team exert more strength?
This was what he was thinking about now, and it was also the core of the discussion with his assistants.
Comain was also racing against time.
This was not the time he had to prepare for the season.
Soon, there would be the third round of the Dutch Cup in the middle of the week, and the league match against AZ Alkmaar next weekend.
Ten days later, the defending Champions League champion AC Milan would visit Amsterdam!
Comain needed Qin Xiong to make a substantial contribution!
But there was a balance. The balance of the whole team system needed to be considered. As one could imagine, excluding the goalkeeper, there were only ten players on the field. To form a team and produce chemistry, every position and every role had the effect of affecting the whole team. What the coaching staff needed to consider was not as simple as casually giving orders in a football game.
The joyous atmosphere continued until they returned to Amsterdam, in the Ajax Club.
After a fierce battle, the team needed to recover their physical fitness after the game. Especially with the tight competition schedule recently, they were even more cautious in this regard.
The players who had exhausted their physical fitness in the game received a post-game muscle massage from the team doctors in the club, replenished their food and water, and so on.
Qin Xiong only played for more than thirty minutes, so he recovered faster. Today they won against PSV Eindhoven, last season's league champion and their main competitor. The players' psychological excitement would last for a long time. Even if they were asked to go home and sleep at this time, they would not be able to sleep.
Captain Van Der Vaart took the lead and asked his teammates to go to the KTV to sing. The older teammates who had families naturally refused, and everyone understood.
Ajax was still the world of the young people. The young people had nothing to do, so they went to karaoke to relax. After the psychological excitement calmed down, they would go home and rest.
Qin Xiong made an appointment with them and then went first. He still wanted to talk to Comain and solve the doubts in his heart.
But after Comain returned to the club, he was still working overtime. He brought the topic discussed with the coaching staff to the meeting room on the bus.
So Qin Xiong went to Louis Van Gaal's office to try his luck.
Louis Van Gaal was really in the office. He had planned to leave at dinner time, but he received a phone call and stayed in the office.
The call was from the United Kingdom. A club wanted to invite him to come out of retirement. The club that sent the invitation was rich and was called Chelsea.
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