Recently, China's national team tournament intensive, but the results are mediocre, the Asian Games tournament came to an end, the host status under the only eight, exposing the strength of the shortcomings, triggered heated debate. How to improve the strength, obviously, the root cause does not lie in the national team itself, but need to start from the foundation, especially grass-roots soccer - this is the cradle of talent selection. It is for this reason that the U15 International Soccer Invitational has attracted so much attention, not so much from the national team, but from the privately selected U15 team, Soccer Youth. After several years of refinement, this team has brought together a number of talented 15-year-old players, with Kuang Zhaolun being one of the best.
Initially, the general consensus was that the focus was on participation, yet the young soccer team impressed with an amazing performance. Playing a 70-minute match with a 15-minute first half, the team beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in the group stage, then drew with Hanoi 2-2, exchanged a 0-0 draw with Brisbane Lions, and finally beat South American powerhouse River Plate by a single goal to advance to the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they faced Feyenoord, another European powerhouse, and despite being slightly weaker, the players fought back and eliminated their opponents with a score of 4-2, advancing to the finals. According to the schedule, the final on October 9 will be against Argentine powerhouse River Plate, who eliminated Red Star Belgrade in the semifinals.
River Plate's average age is one year older than Soccer Juniors, and with four starters from Argentina's 08-age national youth team, their strength is not to be underestimated, and they have high hopes of winning the title. Nonetheless, the soccer youth team is not without chances, they have proved themselves in the group stage. Both sides sent their strongest lineups to the final. After the start, River Plate dominated the midfield, with more than 70% of the ball in their possession, and constantly pressurized Soccer Youth inside the penalty area. In the 18th minute, River Plate lifted the ball into the penalty area, and Soccer Youth made a mistake in clearing the ball, which didn't go too far. River Plate won the ball, dipped into the penalty area and scored a powerful shot to take the lead.
Trailing, Soccer Youth launched a counterattack, but struggled to pose a threat to the River Plate goal. At the end of the half, there was only one shot on goal, still trailing 0-1. In the second half, the lineups of both teams remained unchanged, and River Plate continued to maintain the advantage of ball control. As the game progressed, Soccer Youth declined in fitness and lacked offense. River Plate scored a penalty kick in the 69th minute to seal the win. Soccer Youth lost the chance to equalize and eventually had no choice but to swallow the loss and miss out on the championship. River Plate won the championship as expected. In front of many strong teams, Soccer Youth finished second, which is a result beyond expectation, and their performance won recognition from the outside world.
