For three consecutive years, the Chinese team has monopolized the World Table Tennis Championships.

During this period, table tennis in various countries is also improving, especially the Japanese team, which has begun to learn the playing style of the Chinese team, but how can the progress of various countries compare to the inventory in Chen Qiang's mind, Chen Qiang's fingernails can make the Chinese table tennis team lead the world for five years.

China's table tennis has also been thoroughly popularized, under the national system formed by the whole people playing table tennis, a large number of young table tennis talents, gradually emerging, several of which Chen Qiang has never heard of, but has a very good strength and potential, the original history, these outstanding athletes did not have the opportunity to contact table tennis, buried their talent, but in this time and space, they had the opportunity to contact table tennis earlier, but also showed their table tennis talent.

In three years, China's table tennis has been on the right track, and the younger generation of athletes led by Rong Guotuan has also grown up and can lead Chinese table tennis to continue to move forward. Chen Qiang feels that his task has been completed, and China's table tennis will develop step by step, and there is no need for Chen Qiang to worry about it.

At this time, Chen Qiang turned his attention to football, and the World Cup qualifiers were about to begin.

The head coach of the Chinese football team is the football king Li Huitang, he has led the team for more than four years, in the past four years, the Chinese football team has grown from scratch, and has experienced a lot of ups and downs and twists and turns, fortunately, the country's investment in funds has been tilted, so the development of the Chinese football team is still very rapid.

In the past few years, Li Huitang has also led the Chinese football team to study in some countries in Eastern Europe and played friendly matches with some Asian countries. The young Chinese football team is not behind closed doors, but has some international experience.

……

Chen Qiang and Li Huitang walked side by side on the court.

"When our football team was first established, I used to go to Hungary to study, I don't know if I don't learn, I was shocked when I learned, our football has fallen too far behind, and the waiters in Hungarian hotels have better skills than our players. So after I came back, I also learned from the pain, focusing on improving the technical level of the players, practicing the basic skills, and the past few years have achieved some results. Li Huitang opened his mouth to introduce.

"What is the level of skill of our players in Asia?" Chen Qiang asked.

"Medium to top! I don't know if I can beat Japan and the Philippines, but if I compare it to Nanyang, I shouldn't be weaker than them. Li Huitang said.

Chen Qiang nodded with satisfaction, the Chinese football team in history, in 1957, could not compare with Southeast Asian countries, even Myanmar could not win, and it was completely able to compare with the national football team in 2019. But in this time and space, Chinese football has more investment, and with Li Huitang, the king of football, as the coach, the strength is naturally not the same.

"You see, that is our main goalkeeper Huang Zhaowen, these are our main defenders Chen Fulai, Gao Yunshi, Jiang Jiexiang, midfielders Zhang Jingtian, Wang Ruiwen, forwards Ha Zengguang, Nian Weisi, Zhang Honggen, Sun Fucheng, Wang Lu......" Li Huitang introduced his team members to Chen Qiang.

"Three backs, two midfielders, five strikers, it's really a 3-2-5 formation!" Chen Qiang sighed in his heart.

In the future understanding of the game, five strikers would be hilarious, but between the thirties and the fifties, five strikers were the norm in football.

"We're going to have to change our staffing." Chen Qiang said directly to Li Huitang.

"How to change? Do you want to change it to 2-3-5? In the thirties, the 2-3-5 formation was indeed more popular, and Italy also won two World Cups with the 2-3-5 formation, but in recent years, the trend in international football is to focus more on defense, so I adjusted a midfielder to the back position. Li Huitang explained.

"No, we don't change any 2-3-5 formation, we change 4-4-2 formation." Chen Qiang said.

"That's to adjust a striker to midfield......" Li Huitang thought with a frown.

"I'm talking 4-4-2, not 2-4-4." Chen Qiang said helplessly.

Only then did Li Huitang understand, and he showed a surprised expression: "You mean four backcourts, four midfielders, and only two forwards?" ”

"I don't have too many strikers, a serious striker is enough, and the remaining one is a forward midfielder." Chen Qiang opened his mouth to explain.

"What about the offense? Two people can't attack at all! Li Huitang said.

"What is the avant-garde for! When attacking, the avant-garde can go on together! Chen Qiang paused, and then said: "Lao Li, you yourself are an offensive master, you think carefully, do you really need to use all five forwards to score a goal?" ”

"Well...... this" Li Huitang lowered his head and thought about it, as a generation of football kings, of course he knew that it didn't take five strikers to score a goal, Li Huitang himself could take the ball and connect a few people and then complete the shot, if Li Huitang completed the attack alone, the other four strikers would become decorations.

After thinking for a long time, Li Huitang spoke: "I probably understand your thoughts, but even according to what you said, we really changed to a 4-4-2 formation, and there is no suitable tactical system. ”

"Of course there's a tactical system, it's here." Chen Qiang pointed to his head, and then continued: "Let's go to the conference room in a while, and I'll explain to you the tactics under the 4-4-2 formation." ”

Next, it took Chen Qiang two full days to introduce the tactical system of the 4-4-2 formation to Li Huitang.

This is just an introduction, not a detailed explanation, Chen Qiang didn't even give Li Huitang too many opportunities to ask questions, but even so, it took two days. This is also something that can't be helped, there are too many tactics derived under the 4-4-2 formation system, and Chen Qiang may not be able to explain it thoroughly if he goes to a semester of courses, and thanks to Li Huitang is a king-level athlete, he has a very good understanding of football, so Chen Qiang only spent two days to introduce the 4-4-2 formation clearly.

After listening to the introduction, Li Huitang threw himself to the ground for Chen Qiang's admiration, and in Li Huitang's mind, the 4-4-2 formation has become a perfect formation with both offense and defense. The two also decided to work together, leaving the technical aspects of football to Li Huitang and the tactical aspects to Chen Qiang.

……

In football, a team has 11 players, and except for the goalkeeper, who cannot move, the other 10 positions can be adjusted. How to reasonably arrange these 11 people on the field has become the number one issue in the development of football theory, and it has continued to this day.

When modern football first appeared, the tactical idea was the one-sided pursuit of attack, when the use of 1-9 formation, that is, the "swarm" style of kicking, was completely a beginner mode, and later found that the "swarm" style of kicking was unreliable, so the football formation evolved into 2-2-6, football since then there has been defense, with the midfield organization strategy.

With the development of football, people also realized the importance of organization, and the first standard formation in football also appeared, that is, the 2-3-5 formation, two defenders, three midfielders and five forwards, this is still an offensive formation, the central midfielder is mainly involved in the attack, the two full-backs will fight against the opponent's winger in defense, and the rest of the defensive tasks will be handed over to the defenders and goalkeepers.

In the 1930 World Cup, Uruguay and Argentina in South America used the pyramid formation to win the championship and runner-up respectively, and then the Italians improved the 2-3-5 formation to a 2-3-2-3 formation, and won two consecutive World Cup titles in 1934 and 1938.

During the Second World War, the World Cup was suspended and the development of football came to a standstill, and after the end of the Second World War, teams continued to use a 2-3-5 formation, or other formations that evolved from the 2-3-5 formation.

Until the 1958 World Cup, Brazil brought the classic 4-2-4 formation to strengthen the defense, and Brazil won two consecutive World Cup titles. Of course, the super individual ability of the football king Pele also makes Brazil dare to reduce a striker, and is not worried about the lack of offensive firepower at all.

With the development of football, on the basis of the 4-2-4 formation, a striker was withdrawn, a midfielder was added, and a 4-3-3 formation appeared, and football began to emphasize the midfield organization. This formation is still widely used today.

Next came the 4-4-2 formation, which England lacked world-class wingers and could only pull one of the wingers into midfield, a situation that was forced to make one of the most classic formations in football.

The 4-4-2 formation is balanced in attack and defense, rich and changeable in tactics, and can also be transformed into other people's formations, under the 4-4-2 formation, from personnel arrangement to division of responsibilities, each line and position can complement each other and can be protected. When attacking, they can support and cooperate with each other.

……

In the 1958 World Cup, there were 16 places in the finals, with three in South America, one in North America and the Caribbean, one in Asia, and all in Europe.

To participate in the 1958 World Cup, the Chinese team first had to pass the qualifiers and get the only place in Asia, and the first opponent of the Chinese team in the qualifiers was Indonesia.

Historically, the Chinese team has achieved a record of one win, one loss and one draw against Indonesia, but because the Chinese team lost one more goal away from home, it ultimately failed to advance.

In this time and space, the strength of the Chinese team is stronger, and there are more advanced formations and tactics, winning two games in a row to easily advance to the second round of the qualifiers.

At this time, an incident happened, FIFA allowed Israel to participate in the World Cup, which led to the collective withdrawal of some countries with religious exclusion from the World Cup, so that only China and Israel were left in the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup.

Israel is not a football power, Israel in this era frequently participates in international competitions, more to gain international status, for Israel, as long as it can show its face in the international community, it is considered to have completed the task.

Under the leadership of Chen Qiang and Li Huitang, the Chinese team also finally defeated Israel and won the only place in the Asian zone of the World Cup.

Historically, it was Indonesia that advanced to the qualifiers, and Indonesia also participated in the boycott of Israel, so Israel won without a fight and directly advanced to the World Cup finals, but FIFA still protected Europe, and they found a reason that Israel's qualification was too simple, so Israel and Wales competed for the World Cup qualifiers. As a result, Wales defeated Israel and secured a ticket to the World Cup finals.

Therefore, in the 1958 World Cup in history, there were no Asian teams participating.

……

The 1958 World Cup was held in Sweden, and when it comes to this World Cup, many people will think of a name, "King of the Ball" Pele! It was also this World Cup that the Brazilian team, under the leadership of Pele, tasted the World Cup championship for the first time.

China is participating in the World Cup for the first time, and for other teams, the Chinese team is mysterious, and the Chinese team is also seen as the weakest of the sixteen teams. Football in Asia is already backward, and the South Korean team had the opportunity to enter the World Cup finals before, but it was beaten by various blows and lost in a mess, and the largest score difference in the history of the World Cup was 9-0, which was exported by the South Korean team. In the eyes of European and American countries, the Chinese team will also become cannon fodder.

Since you are cannon fodder, you have to have the task of being cannon fodder, such as helping the host advance to the quarterfinals.

As a result, the Chinese team and the Swedish team were in the same group, along with Hungary and Mexico.

In this era, Mexican football is not strong, and third-rate European teams can beat Mexico, and as for Hungary, football strength can only be regarded as second-rate in Europe. Judging from this group, the Swedish team should be nine out of ten in the group promotion.

In order to get a good start, the Swedish team must pick up the softest persimmon and pinch it, so in terms of schedule, the Chinese team became the opponent of the Swedish team in the first round of the group stage.

……

"Four years ago in the World Cup in Switzerland, Hungary defeated South Korea 9-0, which is also the largest point difference in the history of the World Cup, today we want to break this record, we want to win China by double digits!" The head coach of the Swedish team raised two fingers in high spirits.

The coach's words also encouraged the players, and they also shouted happily, and the morale of the entire Swedish team was greatly boosted.

However, when the players stepped onto the field, the Swedes were blindsided.

"What the hell is this formation?" The head coach of the Swedish team said to himself.

In this era of five strikers, China's 4-4-2 formation is something that the Swedes simply cannot understand.

It wasn't until half an hour into the game that the head coach of the Swedish team realized that this "ghost formation" was really good enough in defense!

For half an hour, the Swedish team continued to try various attacks, but was never able to break through the defense line of the Chinese team, the defense of four people in the midfield, so that the Swedish team could not form an effective offensive organization, and finally could attack the backfield of the Chinese team, basically only by personal ability, and in the face of the Chinese team's four defenders to help each other, the players of this era, except for Pele, are really helpless.

Half an hour of onslaught, not only ineffective, but also consumed a lot of physical energy of the Swedish team, as a result, in the first half of the forty minutes, the Chinese team made a surprise attack, the central midfielder passed to the winger, and then broke through the cross from the side and then shot, the cooperation of three players of the Chinese team penetrated the goal of the Swedish team.

The defenders face the forwards, and the speed is not dominant, and the defense of the two defenders is like paper paste in the face of this kind of attack, and the slightest poke will leak everywhere.

The Swedish fans at home were all stunned, they could not have imagined that at half-time, it was the Swedish team that was behind.

At the beginning of the second half, the Swedish team continued to attack. Although the skills of the Swedish players are much better than those of the Chinese players, the tactical system is really several notches behind, after all, football is a team sport, and the outstanding individual ability does not necessarily mean that it will bring victory to the team.

The Chinese team seized the opportunity and scored another goal with a defensive counterattack. After taking a 2-0 lead, the Chinese team directly played defensive tactics, leaving only one striker in the frontcourt, and everyone else shrank in the backcourt to defend until the game time ran out.

……

In the café of an international hotel in Sweden, tourists from other countries are talking about yesterday's game.

"The Swedes wanted to pinch a soft persimmon, but they didn't expect to catch a hedgehog!"

"In this World Cup, the Swedish team is also a first-class team, why did it lose to the Chinese team!"

"In the other game in this group, Hungary won against Mexico, if Sweden loses to Hungary, won't they be eliminated from the group?"

"Even if it's a draw with Hungary, you have to look at goal difference, and Sweden doesn't necessarily have an advantage."

Chen Qiang leaned back in his chair, listening to the discussion of the people around him, while watching his son eliminate the chocolate cake on the plate.

Before coming to Sweden, Chen Qiang telegraphed Esther in the United States, so Esther took his son to Sweden to reunite with Chen Qiang.

"The World Cup should last for more than 20 days, and since you returned to China, our family has never been together for so long." Esther said with a look of resentment.

Chen Qiang shook Esther's hand and comforted: "Before coming to Sweden, I asked the organization for a long-term family leave to accompany you. ”

"Long vacation? How many months? Esther asked.

"It's twenty years!" Chen Qiang let out a long sigh.

"Twenty years of vacation? Are you kidding? Twenty years from now, it's time for you to retire! Esther suddenly realized something at this point, and she asked, "You don't plan to go back to China?" ”

"No, I'm going to go back, but I'll have to wait until twenty years from now. China's sports development is on the right track, we have a world champion, we have reached the World Cup, and my job is done. In the past ten years, I have lost too much money to you, and in the next time, it is time for me to return to my family. When the World Cup is over, let's go home together! Chen Qiang said with a smile.

"Let's go home!" Hearing this, Esther couldn't help but shed tears, she had been waiting for this sentence for ten years!

……

In 1962, in Madison Square Garden, Chen Qiang sat in a VIP seat, and next to him was a man with glasses, none other than NBA commissioner Walton Kennedy.

On the court, two big men are battling it out under the basket.

"Bill Russell is definitely the greatest basketball player in history, but the appearance of Wilt Chamberlain has added 'one' to this 'greatest'." Walton Kennedy said with a smile.

The two big men on the court who were competing were none other than Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, and the battle between the two became the focus of the NBA.

"The NFL in football has grown very quickly in recent years, and they have had a lot of new stars. We in the NBA also need such star players to prop up the façade. Walton Kennedy continued.

Chen Qiang nodded, and then asked, "Walton, have you ever considered changing the scoring rules a little?" For example, if you draw an arc farther away from the basket and score a basket outside the arc, you can score three points at a time. We can call it the three-point line! ”

"Three-point line? Can you score three points with one offense? Mr. Chen, how can you have such a whimsy! Walton Kennedy couldn't help but admire.

A year later, the three-point line appeared for the first time on the NBA court!

……

Nike's corporate headquarters, New York, 1979.

"Adidas has launched a new basketball shoe on the market, called TOP TEN, and the response from the market has been very good."

"Le Cordon Bleu Sports' Blazer basketball shoes have grabbed a lot of market from us, and according to the market response, the design of this basketball shoe is very rough, but it is very strong and difficult to use."

"Based on the information we've gathered, Converse is also planning to launch a new shoe."

Listening to the report of his subordinates, Chen Qiang sighed lightly, Adidas came to the United States from Europe to conquer the American market; Converse is also a hundred-legged insect that dies but does not stiffen, and still has many loyal customers; Ten years ago, Le Cordon Bleu Sports was still acting as an agent for Japanese-made sneakers, and now, Le Cordon Bleu Sports has been able to launch popular basketball shoes.

The competition in the basketball shoes market is becoming more and more fierce.

"It seems that our air cushion shoes should also be launched on the market!" Chen Qiang said to himself.

Three months later, the first ever air-cushion basketball shoe was launched on the market, with a price of up to $100, which still attracts countless consumers.

……

University of North Carolina, 1983.

Young Michael Jordan looked at the numbers on his contract and fell into a momentary distraction, he had never seen so much money in his life. Once he signs his name on this contract, then the money belongs to him.

However, Jordan also knew that this could be regarded as a lifelong deed of sale, and once he signed this contract, he would have to follow Nike for the rest of his life.

Michael Jordan didn't hesitate, he was happy to sign his name on the contract, for a sophomore basketball player, such a contract is really too attractive, even those superstars in professional basketball, can not get such good terms.

Chen Qiang thought that Jordan stretched out his right hand, and said at the same time: "Michael, I believe that it won't be long before Nike will launch a sub-brand exclusive to you!" ”

"Thank you, Mr. Chen, I will work hard." Jordan said a little shyly.

After leaving the University of North Carolina and getting on the bus back, the director of the public relations department of Nike couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Chen, I don't quite understand, why did you choose this Michael Jordan, Olajuwon of the University of Houston should be better than Jordan, and Charles Barkley of Auburn University, and Sam Perkins, who is also in North Carolina, are also very good players." ”

"Your biggest doubt should be the signing conditions I gave Michael Jordan, right?" Chen Qiang asked.

"Yes, this condition is too generous, not to mention anything else, just talking about the lifetime clause, many superstars in the NBA can't get it." The PR officer spoke.

Chen Qiang narrowed his eyes slightly, made a look of closing his eyes and recuperating, and said at the same time: "I chose him for no other reason, just because he is Michael Jordan!" ”

The news that Michael Jordan signed a big contract with Nike as a college player has spread far and wide, causing the jealousy of countless professional players.

On the West Coast of the United States, among the emerging Le Cordon Bleu sports companies, President Phil Knight has a depressed face.

"Michael Jordan has always been a player I am very optimistic about, and I originally planned to wait for him to join the NBA before signing him, but I didn't expect to be preempted by Nike!"

……

On July 13, 2001, 85-year-old Chen Qiang sat in front of the TV, quietly waiting for the results.

International Olympic Committee President Samaranch appeared on the television screen, only to see Samaranch standing in front of the microphone, unpacking the envelope in his hand, and solemnly announcing: "The host city of the 2008 Summer Olympics is Beijing!" ”

In front of the TV, Chen Qiang was already in tears.

"Sir, you once asked, when will China be able to send athletes to the Olympics? When will Chinese athletes get an Olympic gold medal? When will China be able to host the Olympics? I answered the first two questions in 1932, and today, the last question has finally been answered! ”

(End of book)