Standing in front of Wen Zhihao and Liang Xin is their common friend, Liu Ruofan, who is from the same school.

Looking at the two "seniors" of the national team who were one year younger than him, Liu Ruofan replied with a smile: "Hehe, luck!" Luck! ”

Wen Zhihao patted his shoulder and said, "Luck is also part of strength!" Tell us, what did you do to get qualified to wear this dress? ”

Liu Ruofan waved his hand: "I can still show off in front of others, but in front of you Zhihao, I'm still low-key and be a man with my tail between my legs." You're different from us, you killed Barcelona twice, and you're so awesome that you break through the sky. ”

This time Liang Xin nodded sympathetically, Wen Zhihao was looked at by two pairs of hot eyes, subconsciously touched his nose, a little embarrassed, from his own point of view, he really felt that Barcelona was not an invincible opponent. But he ignores the influence of the dreamy and powerful Barcelona that once came.

Wen Zhihao hurriedly turned the topic back: "Don't talk about me, now we are asking you!" Hurry up and tell us about your glorious deeds. ”

It just so happened that at this time, the assistant coach of the national team, Madaloni, came over from the other end of the corridor, and Liu Ruofan immediately said: "I said that it is not appropriate, if you want to know, ask Coach Madaloni!" ”

"Huh? What, you three know each other well? Madaloni asked with the middle-aged uncle's trademark smile.

Liu Ruofan nodded: "I, Liang Xin and Zhihao and I came out of the same local youth training. ”

Then Liu Ruofan relayed the conversation just now.

Maddaloni turned to Marcelo (Lippi) and replied, "Originally, Marcelo (Lippi) should have said these things, but I can satisfy your curiosity in advance. ”

In the U23 Asian Cup in January, Liu scored four goals and four assists as a skipping student, and was elected as the assist king and silver boot of the tournament. He was a big contributor to the team's final four. The national team coaching staff agreed that such a player should get a higher level of training as soon as possible, so he is here. ”

Wen Zhihao and Liang Xin understood the reason.

Maddaloni then said to a few people, "It would be better if the three of you were familiar. They are all about the same age. Liu, if you don't understand anything, ask the two of them more. ”

Liu Ruofan nodded in agreement. Wen Zhihao and Liang Xin were very happy to watch from the side. It can be seen that Madaloni really takes him seriously. At the beginning of the year, the head coach of the Chinese U23 youth team that reached the semi-finals was Madaloni, and Liu Ruofan was able to catch up with the pace of the two and enter the national team so quickly, it is not difficult to think that it must have something to do with Madaloni.

In fact, they both know each other, and the two gradually feel that Liu Ruofan's appearance here today is worthy of his talent and hard work.

Liu Ruofan's trajectory as an international player is different from the two, Wen Zhihao and Liang Xin both showed their talents at the club level in the European arena and were directly selected for the senior national team. Liu Ruofan has experienced the echelon of national brands at all levels, and has jumped step by step to get to today.

"Ruofan, your national brand resume is much better than ours. Individual awards in the international arena, Lao Liang and I don't have yet. ”

Liu Ruofan is still as modest as ever: "With the ability of the two of you, sooner or later." And certainly not for long. I'm just here to make soy sauce and learn from behind everyone's buttocks. ”

"Ruofan, you can't be so presumptuous. Since you are here, it means that the coach approves of you. There are still a few months before the start of the World Cup, so let's work hard, and the three of us will go to Russia together, so that's interesting. Liang Xin encouraged on the side.

Wen Zhihao nodded in agreement.

Liu Ruofan seemed to have a little expectation and agreed: "Okay, then I'll give it a try." ”

……

From the afternoon of the second day after Wen Zhihao and Liang Xin returned to the team, the training of the national team shifted from simple recovery training to technical and tactical training. The format of the domestic Super League is different from that of the European League, which is a full year system, from the beginning of March to October or November. The five major leagues are played in a New Year's Eve format. The most striking effect on the national team is the difference in physical condition. The local internationals who have just entered the new season are far less physically in physical condition than Wen Zhihao and Liang Xin, two returnees who have played for most of the season and are in the critical period of competing for the championship in their respective leagues.

Starting with the tactical training of the national team, the number of journalists and fans on the sidelines of the training ground has increased significantly. Because the China Cup is still based on running in the lineup and inspecting the players, the coaching staff did not strictly guard against the media like the top 12 matches, and all the media who came to report could get a lot of first-hand information generously.

In an interview at the beginning of the year, Lippi expressed his attitude that the main framework for the World Cup is still the top 12 international players, and at the same time, some young fresh blood will be added. At the East Asian Cup at the end of last year, Lippi used the second team of the national football team to play a wide range of newcomers. I thought this was already a big move. Unexpectedly, in the training camp near the World Cup, Liu Ruofan was added to the list of the national team, a newcomer who has attracted much attention but has never been selected for the senior national team.

While paying attention to Liu Ruofan's first national team performance, some reporters noticed a phenomenon that has not occurred for many years. The "skipping students" of the national team began to appear frequently.

Not only Liu Ruofan, but Wen Zhihao and Liang Xin are only seventeen or eighteen years old. Where are the best players in their age group now?

The country is young, the country is young. Like Liu Ruofan, who skipped a grade at the age of 18 and was selected for the U23, it is rare in Chinese football.

Of course, it can't be compared with Wen Zhihao and Liang Xin, these two people directly climbed to the sky in one step, jumped all echelons, and directly entered the senior national team, and sat firmly in the main force in a very short time.

Journalists can't help but think of the last wave of rejuvenation of the national team. When was that?

In 2005!

More than ten years ago, when Gao Lin and Feng Xiaoting were still high-spirited teenagers. After the World Youth Championships in the Netherlands, in the East Asian Cup of the same year, young talents such as Chen Tao, Gao Lin, Zhou Haibin and Zhao Xuri officially made their national team debuts.

And the last international player like Wen Zhihao and Liang Xin, who was selected for the national team before the age of eighteen, was Feng Xiaoting, the big brother of the current backline. In 2003, seventeen-year-old Feng Xiaoting was called into the national team by Dutch coach Alihan and completed the triple jump from the national youth to the national Olympics and then to the national team.

And the group of international players who were selected for skipping the grade that year became the main skeleton of the national team in the next ten years. Now seeing Wen Zhihao, Liang Xin and Liu Ruofan, everyone has no doubt that the midfield of the national team in the next ten years will be full of talent and imagination.

The ending of the super platinum generation of the 05 World Youth Championship has not met everyone's initial expectations, but these young people in the stadium have taken a completely different path from their predecessors, and the development momentum has shown a surprising dawn.