Since joining the Inter Youth Team five months ago,
Tang Long has become thoroughly familiar with the training process.
Warm-up, laps, passing, shooting…
A whole routine takes exactly one hour.
Recently, the head coach of the Inter Youth Team went to study at UEFA,
so today's training is led by the assistant coach Chiwo.
This player, who won the treble with Inter Milan,
naturally joined Inter's youth team as a coach after retiring,
leading from the U15 up to the U18 Youth Team as an assistant coach.
Today, his main focus is on players like Tang Long, whose youth contracts are about to expire.
To decide if the club will renew their contracts with them.
In Chiwo's view,
Tang Long is actually the most diligent player in the entire Inter Youth Team.
He demands a lot out of himself in both training and life.
Perhaps it's because Chiwo is Eastern European!
He always expects Tang Long, coming from China, to perform excellently on the field and stay with Inter.
However, today, Chiwo stood on the sidelines with a tactical board in hand, his hands behind his back.
Watching Tang Long pass, run laps, and shoot on the field, which were all quite unimpressive!
He hasn't reached the average standard of the team,
and in some areas, he's even at the bottom.
Chiwo couldn't help but support his forehead and let out a slight sigh.
"Alas, it seems football really requires talent!"
"Even as hardworking as Tang is, without talent, it's hard to make it to the professional arena..."
Chiwo knew very well.
Only a few in this Inter U18 Youth Team could make it to the top professional leagues.
A few standouts, like Di Marco in the team.
Might get loaned out to a Serie A relegation team for rotation.
Some are only at the mid to lower levels of a Serie B team rotation.
As for players like Tang Long,
he could either play in lower league matches just to make a living,
or he might have to just retire,
and leave this sport entirely.
That's the way it is on the football field!
Great success is built on countless unrecognized efforts!
No matter how dazzling stars are under the world's spotlights,
most are those unnoticed players in the background.
Many wave goodbye to the professional courts soon after reaching adulthood,
seeking other means to earn a living.
Watching Tang Long work hard on the training ground,
the Romanian Chiwo felt baffled!
He couldn't understand.
"China clearly has 1.4 billion people, the largest population in the world, yet why can't it produce a player who can play as the main force in one of the top five leagues? It's truly strange!"
(Chiwo looked at Tang Long with confusion)
...
"All gather!"
Chiwo blew the whistle.
At this moment, with sweat all over Tang Long knew his chance was coming!
Next is a 30-minute intra-squad match,
The youth team will split into Team A and Team B to compete on the field.
According to the system prompt,
The initial awakening of the Green Engine system in Tang Long is his ability to judge passing routes.
This skill, Tang Long knows, cannot be shown in training!
It can only be demonstrated in actual matches.
Team A donned the blue vests symbolizing the starters,
while Tang Long got a yellow vest symbolizing Team B's substitutes.
"Work hard, boys, you're already 18, by your age, many talented players have already made it to Serie A, so don't waste any more time!"
Chiwo said to everyone.
Tang Long looked up,
and saw Chiwo was looking at him,
with both pity and regret in his eyes.
The intra-squad training match started.
Tang Long can play as an attacking midfielder, supporting forward, and defensive midfielder,
and he stood in his most familiar position as an attacking midfielder.
At the Inter Youth Training Camp, there is a serious polarization among players,
and Team A in blue vests quickly overpowered Team B in yellow vests.
It was hard for Tang Long, who stood in the center as an attacking midfielder for Team B, to get the ball.
"This won't work, I must fall back slightly, or I won't have a chance to get the ball!"
Tang Long started retreating to the defensive midfield position proactively.
A minute later,
The general commander from the sidelines, Chiwo, keenly noticed the change in Tang Long's position.
"Tang, return to your pre-match position, why are you running around aimlessly?"
Chiwo shouted unhappily.
He strongly dislikes players not playing according to his tactical instructions.
However, Tang Long gritted his teeth and didn't listen to Chiwo's command!
Because he knew that Team B can't even touch the ball in the front at all,
He must retract quite deeply to have the chance to get the ball.
"This kid is really disappointing."
Chiwo cursed.
He was just about to substitute Tang Long to lecture him,
when Team B, which had been besieged for ten minutes, finally won possession.
After the center-back intercepted the forward's attack,
he raised his eyes,
the closest to him was Tang Long,
and he passed the ball to Tang Long.
As the soccer rolled toward Tang Long,
A field simulation map instantly unfolded in his mind!
This simulation map marked the positions of all 22 players on the field with dots.
Even though Tang Long was back-facing when receiving the ball, he could clearly see each person's movement direction.
"Press in the front field! Don't let him comfortably turn with the ball!"
The left-back Di Marco from Team A, pressing in the front field, charged directly towards Tang Long.
On the other side,
Team A's forward also ran towards Tang Long!
The two formed a siege against Tang Long in an instant.
The center-back, who passed to Tang Long, shouted hurriedly:
"Don't hesitate! Pass the ball back to me, I'll clear it!"
But at this moment,
A line of brainwave flashed across Tang Long's mind, embedding a piece of information in almost a millisecond.
-[The opponent's mid-front field presses too forward, our forward is near the midfield circle; at this moment, a rapid half-arc pass to the front shows, based on big data, an 82.76% chance to create a threatening attack]
On the field simulation hotspot map in Tang Long's mind,
The icon of a forward teammate instantly turned from yellow to shining brightly.
"Enzo, watch the ball!"
Tang Long struggled to twist his body,
Right foot pulled sideways to open a stance,
Then heavily stomped on the bottom of the ball with the inside of his left foot, kicking a forward arc ball!
Flying into the air—
Team B's teammate Enzo's eyes instantly lit up,
and immediately leveraged his speed advantage,
chasing the direction where the ball was heading.
As long as he got the ball,
he could immediately form a one-on-one situation with Team A's center-back.
Unfortunately,
Tang Long's left-foot reverse foot pass was slightly too big!
Even though Enzo chased the ball with all his might, it still went out of bounds.
"Alas, just a little short!"
"It seems my passing stats with the wrong foot are not good enough."
Tang Long regrettably held his head.
He was passing entirely based on the system's prompt,
Had he just slightly reduced the strength,
Enzo would have definitely gotten the ball,
With his speed, there wouldn't be any problem at all!
Such a pity…
"Great!"
"Fantastic pass!!!"
A loud voice,
Instantly jolted Tang Long out of his regret!
It was the call from the assistant coach Chiwo from the sidelines!
And his clapping echoed across the large field,
Tang Long could hear that crisp clapping even from fifty or sixty meters away.
"The thinking is spot on, directly side pass without trapping the ball, magnificent pass! Well done, Tang!"
Chiwo smiled, giving Tang Long a thumbs up.
Even Enzo, who didn't get the ball, came back to high-five Tang Long.
"Great pass, pity I didn't run fast enough, your pass was flawless!"
Enzo cheered for Tang Long.
Such a scene,
had never occurred in Tang Long's training matches over these past five months!
Teammates and coach actually praised my pass as good!
This really restored a lot of Tang Long's confidence.
"This time it was a pity with the wrong foot, next time using the dominant foot, make sure to deliver a great pass!"