Chapter 57: National Team Debut
In Spain, inside the office of the national team coach, Bosque.
Vicente del Bosque, the coach who led Spain to win the World Cup and the European Championship, was currently watching a match recording with his assistant coach, Toni.
They paid no attention to the match's outcome, focusing instead on the performance of the player wearing the green jersey, number 10, on the field.
After watching the recording, assistant coach Toni's eyes sparkled with excitement as he said to Bosque:
"Old friend, this guy is tailor-made for our national team lineup. With him, we can completely solve the problem of insufficient firepower in our attacking front!"
Bosque smiled and raised his hand to signal his old partner not to get too excited.
Although he admitted that this number 10 player from YunDa Bremen was indeed very suitable for the current tactical system of the Spanish national team.
However, he was just a bit too young! Hearing that he was not even 17 years old yet, recruiting him to the national team as a key player at this age, even if he were a champion coach, would probably result in harsh criticism from the media!
"Well, he's good, but he's just a bit too young. Bringing him in abruptly might cause controversy. You know how troublesome those domestic journalists can be."
Coach Toni noticed Bosque's hesitation and came up with a compromise:
"Here's what we can do. Let's first let him join the U21 national team for a trial. If he can adapt to the U21 team's matches and perform well, then we can include him in the national team's squad list. That way, there won't be as much criticism!"
Bosque nodded in agreement. It was indeed a good idea, so he entrusted Toni with handling the matter.
...
After the match against Hamburg, the next round of the Bundesliga was two weeks later.
Lin Quan had thought he would get a long vacation, but unexpectedly, a call came from the Spanish Football Federation, informing him to report to the U21 national team.
Lin Quan didn't mind playing for the national team, but since they had never called him up before, his national team record was still blank.
Although they only asked him to report to the U21 team and not the national team, for his age, being able to play for the U21 team was already quite good. As for the national team? He hadn't even thought about it yet. He felt Bosque probably wouldn't fancy him. After all, the Spanish national team lineup was so luxurious, with so many stars. Why would they recruit a no-name newcomer like him?
Moreover, it felt better to dominate weaker opponents in the U21 team than to sit on the bench in the national team.
So he quickly packed his things and hurried back to Spain to report to the U21 team.
This batch of the Spanish U21 national team included many young players from top Spanish clubs, such as Real Madrid's Morata and Nacho, Barcelona's Thiago, Sergi Roberto, Montoya, Bartra, and Muniesa, as well as key players from smaller clubs like Malaga, and the top contender for the Golden Boy Award this year, Isco.
Most of these players played in La Liga or Segunda Division. Some were starters for their teams, some were core players, and others were important rotation players.
Due to their age, they were not as well-known as the players in the Spanish national team, but their strength was not weak.
It was no exaggeration to say that among the youth teams of various European countries, they were a top-tier presence.
Similar to the national team, the spine of the Spanish U21 team was mainly built around Barcelona players.
And since Lin Quan also came from La Masia youth academy, he had no trouble adapting to the team's tactical system after reporting to the team.
After several days of training together, Lin Quan confirmed that although these U21 teammates were young, their strength was actually stronger than his club teammates.
Although they were not as experienced due to their age, their skills surpassed those of his club teammates, and they possessed even better potential and talent.
What they lacked was just match experience.
With stronger teammates, Lin Quan felt much easier playing matches.
As long as he found space, his teammates would always pass him the ball first.
And Barcelona's tactical system was originally tailored for Messi.
As a replication of Messi's attributes, Lin Quan felt as if he belonged in this system like a fish in water!
So, with stronger support, in the team's internal scrimmage matches, he slaughtered his opponents like a god descending to earth, scoring five goals with various means in just one half.
Not only that, because he used to play as a defensive midfielder, and Messi also had organizing ability.
So occasionally, he would also assist in organizing the attack as an attacking midfielder, connecting the team's attacking line and supplying ammunition to other teammates.
After all, he couldn't hog all the limelight himself.
Because he assisted Morata several times, the latter immediately became friends with Lin Quan, without caring about their clubs being arch-rivals in the league.
It was the Barcelona players who seemed somewhat indifferent to Lin Quan, subtly showing a kind of rejection.
However, they didn't bring this attitude onto the field; when it came to passing the ball to Lin Quan, they still did so decisively.
So Lin Quan didn't mind much; he figured these guys probably thought he was going back to Barcelona to compete for their positions.
But only Lin Quan himself knew that he wouldn't be going back to Barcelona, so he naturally just chuckled at their guarded attitude.
Lin Quan's perfect integration and excellent attacking and linking abilities in the midfield directly boosted the firepower of the main team.
This performance not only earned him the respect and admiration of his teammates but also pleasantly surprised the head coach of the U21 team, Hulen Lotepeji.
Because Lin Quan was younger than his U21 teammates, he initially thought the national team had burdened him by having him train with Lin Quan.
But it turned out Lin Quan was a huge asset, a giant elephant's leg-level asset.
His presence perfectly solved the team's lack of a strong finisher in the frontcourt.
Although he was young, his individual abilities were exceptionally strong, almost a replica of Messi.
And everyone knew how much the Spanish national team desired Messi!
So without hesitation, he put Lin Quan in the starting lineup and arranged for him to play in Spain's UEFA Youth Championship qualifying match against Switzerland.
In this match, the upgraded Spanish front line displayed formidable attacking power.
The defensively renowned Swiss team conceded three goals in just half time.
The Swiss players were baffled; that number ten from the opponent was insane, unstoppable one-on-one.
The key was not only could he score but he could also assist.
Whenever they tried to double-team him, he immediately passed the ball to exploit the gaps in the Swiss defense.
And the other Spanish youth team players were strong too; give them space, and they'd score.
As a result, the Swiss team found themselves in an awkward situation where they couldn't defend or attack properly.
In this game, the Spanish youth team players felt extremely comfortable, even though they only changed one forward.
But it felt completely different from before, like a rusty machine being lubricated and becoming smooth.
Many players even felt like they had changed the entire team; the team felt stronger both offensively and defensively.
Meanwhile, their opponents, the Swiss youth team, felt miserable.
They saw shadows of Barcelona's playing style in this Spanish youth team; their possession-based system was just like Barcelona's.
Even that number ten from the opponent was almost identical to Messi.
Facing the terrifying ball possession ability of the Spanish youth team, they couldn't even touch the ball, just running around like headless flies.
The Spanish youth team players easily manipulated these Swiss defenders with passes, causing many gaps in their defense, resulting in a barrage of goals.
Before the first half ended, the Spanish youth team had already scored three goals, with a terrifying possession rate of 79%.
Throughout the first half, the Swiss team hardly touched the ball.
The situation didn't improve for the Swiss team in the second half, even though the Spanish youth team showed some mercy.
They only scored two goals in the second half, but Switzerland still couldn't fight back.
In the end, the game ended with Lin Quan making two assists and two goals, helping the team win 5-0.
Poor Switzerland couldn't score a single goal at home and suffered a disastrous defeat.
But they weren't the only ones suffering.
Four days later, Spain hosted Croatia.
In this game, Spain continued their terrifying offensive prowess.
Despite Croatia's youth team being slightly stronger than Switzerland, they still couldn't escape being crushed by Spain.
Lin Quan unleashed an amazing four-goal performance in this match and also provided two assists.
At the end of the game, Spain thrashed Croatia 7-0, securing their qualification for the UEFA Youth Championship with eight consecutive victories.
Their terrifying attacking firepower also attracted attention from the entire European football scene.
Many fans from various countries began to lament; Spain's national team had already won the European Championship and the World Cup, and now their youth team was so formidable.
Does this mean that for the next decade or so, European and even world football will be dominated by the Matadors?
However, perhaps things weren't so bleak...
At the same time, in the World Cup qualifiers.
Facing the weaker team of Georgia, the Spanish national team struggled to score, bombarding their opponents' goal throughout the game. It wasn't until the 86th minute, when Soldado scored a goal, that they barely secured victory.
After this game, the Spanish media had mixed feelings.
They sang praises for their youth team's dominant performance in the UEFA Youth Championship but were not satisfied with the national team's performance in the World Cup qualifiers.
Although they won the game, the team's lack of attacking power remained unchanged.
And with players like Xavi aging, the team's performance was starting to decline, causing worry throughout Spain about the upcoming Confederations Cup matches.
Just at this time, Lin Quan's excellent performance in the youth team attracted media attention, leading to a suggestion:
Since the national team's forwards are lacking, why not recruit this talented young forward from the youth team and give him a try?
This proposal sparked a lot of controversy.
There were many supporters and many opponents, and for a while, whether to recruit Lin Quan into the national team became the focus of discussion throughout Spain.
(End of this chapter)