Although the final victory concluded the entire season's matches, it was clearly not a glorious achievement for the Chinese Youth Football Team in France.
Thus, almost all the team members simultaneously proposed to stay in France for continued training during the Chinese New Year, rather than returning home. Otherwise, they wouldn't know how to face the expectations of their parents and families.
After all, many people in China were following the performance of these five youth training teams, and theirs was the worst. Even as children, they were very concerned about their reputation.
And so, the entire team remained in France. This news brought Leng Zhiruo to tears, as she hadn't seen her son for an entire year. She had hoped to see him during the New Year, but even that became a luxury.
A few days later, Jiangnan Group announced that since the children had such fighting spirit, they couldn't lag behind. Therefore, they agreed to let them stay in France for continued training.
However, the children had been away for a year, and their parents had been waiting for a year. They couldn't let them be unable to see each other for two consecutive years!
Thus, Jiangnan Group funded the invitation of all the parents of these children to form a travel and visiting delegation.
With Jiangnan Group's funding and arrangements, the parents, grandparents, and maternal grandparents of these children could directly join this travel delegation to France to meet their children and enjoy a week-long vacation. They would return to China after a week, and all transportation, accommodation, and travel expenses would be borne by Jiangnan Group.
This news made the children and parents of the other four teams envious. Thus, in the second year, except for the French youth training team, the other four youth training teams all chose to stay abroad for intensive training. Their parents, as they wished, also enjoyed a free cross-border trip with the Jiangnan Group's travel and visiting delegation.
The French youth training team chose to return to China in the second year, not only because their parents had already enjoyed a free cross-border trip the previous year and felt embarrassed to enjoy it a second time.
More importantly, this team had made significant progress throughout 2023.
At the start of the 2023 season, it was unclear whether the intensive winter training had paid off or if all their opponents had become complacent after last year's great success.
Right from the beginning of 2023, this team delivered a 9:0 winning streak for China, winning all nine matches and securing the first place in the league. Two of their opponents were the former first and second-ranked teams, both of whom were defeated by the Chinese youth team.
Therefore, in the tenth round, they suffered an unfortunate loss. However, most Chinese spectators believed that the Chinese youth team had pushed the entire league too hard, forcing the referees to issue a strict order that they must win this match.
As a result, throughout the game, the referees turned a blind eye to the various fouls committed by the French team and was overly strict with the fouls committed by the Chinese youth team, awarding them seven penalties.
However, these penalties had no effect, as all seven were saved. This was also one of the important reasons for China's astonishing record this season: the Chinese youth training team employed a very rare dual-goalkeeper tactic.
Generally, a team would not have rotation tactics for goalkeepers. However, the Chinese youth team managed to pull it off because they had a goalkeeper who was usually poor at saves but became extremely formidable when facing penalties.
The fact that three penalties were saved was the best proof of this goalkeeper's strength.
This tactic sounded very unusual. It involved bringing a normal goalkeeper onto the field. If the team was leading, this goalkeeper could play until the end of the match.
However, if the team was trailing, they would switch to the goalkeeper who was good at defending penalties.
This allowed all the defensive players to disregard handball violations. Even when facing unstoppable attacks, the coach even stated that players could deliberately use their hands to block the ball, even if it resulted in a penalty.
This was because penalties were no longer an issue with this goalkeeper.
Perhaps this goalkeeper had invested all his talent points into defending penalties. Any penalty, in this goalkeeper's eyes, was as easy as taking something from his pocket. Regardless of who took the shot, he could calmly and accurately catch all of them.
To be precise, in these 10 matches, he saved a total of 33 penalties. He firmly caught 28 of them, while 4 were shot wide. Only one penalty managed to evade his hands and fly into the goal, making it the only one out of 33.
Thus, the handball defense tactic, which had never appeared in football history, was born.
Once this goalkeeper took the field, the entire defense line became incredibly ferocious. All defensive players no longer worried about their hands touching the ball. In extreme situations, many players simply used their hands to grab the ball, forcefully disrupting the opponent's attack.
After all, the worst that could happen was a penalty, which had only a 3% success rate.
For a smooth attacking play, aiming for the goal had a success rate of about 25%. So, it was better to turn it into a handball.
Once defensive players unleashed the seal on using their hands to control the ball, their defensive capability increased exponentially. Even without a goalkeeper, it was difficult for opponents to shoot, thus improving the safety of the goal.
This handball defense tactic shocked all of France. They realized for the first time that football could be played this way, leaving many bewildered.
However, even though this goalkeeper successfully blocked all penalties in the tenth round, his weakness in defending regular shots was fully exposed. Eventually, the opponent found several opportunities to score, and they ultimately lost to them.
Although the French team won, the attention was completely overshadowed by this Chinese youth team.
Someone online compiled all the video footage of this goalkeeper saving penalties and paired it with stirring background music to create a 1 minute and 30 second video.
Initially, this video didn't gain much traction online. Everyone thought it was just a compilation of a goalkeeper's successful penalty saves throughout his career.
It wasn't until they saw the red text captions in the video, informing them that this was actually a compilation of a goalkeeper's entire performance across ten consecutive matches.
The video went viral online, breaking ten million views in just three days and even surpassing one hundred million views a month later. Countless people flocked to the video to pay homage, with some jokingly calling the goalkeeper a god.
Thanks to the spread of this video, many fans in China finally learned that they had such a terrifying goalkeeper on the international stage. This player could no longer be called a goalkeeper; he was simply a wall.
Foreign fans were equally shocked, as such a feat would be considered legendary in any country, especially considering that the goalkeeper was reportedly only 12 years old at the time.
Simultaneously, this goalkeeper attracted the attention of numerous scouts. Many top clubs became interested in signing him to their academies, but their offers were naturally rejected without hesitation.
However, the entire Jiangnan Group rejected all purchase requests from top clubs for all players. All five teams continued to progress at their own pace.
In France, despite a minor defeat, it couldn't dampen the momentum of the Chinese youth team. Instead, all their opponents developed a fear of this goalkeeper, making them hesitant to trigger penalty situations during attacks.
Under normal circumstances, the most desired outcome during an attack was to earn a penalty, which almost guaranteed a goal.
But with such a goalkeeper, penalties became the worst possible scenario. All teams tried their best to maintain their attacking play, as penalties would negate everything.
This style of play was clearly not something a normal team could adapt to. Thus, in subsequent matches, the Chinese youth team's opponents repeatedly struggled, with most not playing at their usual level. The Chinese youth training team resumed their winning streak.
By the end of the 2023 season, the Chinese youth training team had become the league leader, sitting at the top of the standings and awaiting their final showdown.
However, their opponents, who had finally fought their way to the playoffs, ultimately met their defeat in the finals. Although the entire team played with great effort, the Chinese youth training team was more satisfied. The final score was a 3:3 draw.
The match then went into a penalty shootout, which was the most desperate phase for the opponents.
When the opponents saw the tall goalkeeper standing in front of the goal, the expressions of the players designated to take the penalties were filled with despair.
The outcome was indeed desperate. The penalty shootout ended after only four shots because the Chinese youth team scored three goals, while all four of the opposing team's shots were saved, with none finding the net. This secured the championship of the French Youth League for the Chinese youth training team.
They also became the first of the five teams to win a youth league championship. They would compete in the French third division league in 2024.
This was a real professional league in France, where all clubs consisted of professional players, mostly in their prime.
By 2024, the players of the Chinese youth training team would be around 14 years old on average, which was precisely the year they would begin rapid development.