The trip to Hangzhou five years ago seems like yesterday. Takeshi Okada recalled, "Time has passed and I am amazed at the transformation of Zhejiang FC." Yesterday afternoon, the former Zhejiang team coach, the current FC investor returned to Hangzhou Zhongtai base, hand in hand to sign a new agreement on youth training. The two sides will deepen soccer-specific training for teams at all levels, improve physical fitness and goalkeeping skills, and expand youth training to young first-team players.

At the signing ceremony, players Gaudi and Sun Zheng'ao visited their mentor Takeshi Okada and reminisced about the past together. Ten years ago, Gaudi became a "Chinese Super League classic" because of his celebration after scoring a goal. Gaudi, who was overwhelmed with emotion, said: "Time flies, ten years have passed. Thanks to the training and trust of coach Takeshi Okada."

Takeshi Okada was full of joy at the return of the Zhongtai base once again, and was equally pleasantly surprised at the progress of Zhejiang FC. "Five years ago, Mr. Jiao (Jiao Fengbo, general manager of Zhejiang FC) set his sights on returning the club to the Chinese Super League, and now his dream has come true. What's even more surprising is that his goal of playing in the Asian Champions League has also been achieved. I'm both happy and surprised to see the first team doing so well. The conditions at the base have also improved dramatically, with a better and more numerous stadium.

Takeshi Okada commented on the base's youth training players, "Technically, there is no gap between them and Japan." Talking about training young players, Takeshi Okada cited the example of the second China Youth Football League (U17 group) in 2023, in which Zhejiang Greentown's U17 Green team won the championship, the U19 team was the second runner-up, and the U13 and U17 Blue teams both came in third. He argued that the achievements of Zhejiang FC's youth training stemmed from a unique soccer concept and philosophy, rather than the mere pursuit of victory.

Takeshi Okada emphasized that "systematization" is the key to the leadership of Japanese soccer. Japanese soccer improves the level of national soccer in four aspects: coach training, youth training, popularization of the soccer population and improvement of the elite level. He believes that although Zhejiang Football Club cannot change Chinese soccer alone, it can play a positive role.

Takeshi Okada said that if there were more soccer clubs like Zhejiang FC in China, the level of soccer would change dramatically. Jiao Fengbo said Zhejiang FC will have a long-term cooperation with Japan, inviting foreign coaches and allowing more young players to participate in Japanese matches, with a view to improving the level of Chinese soccer.

Jiao Fengbo revealed that more young players will go to Japan to play football in the future, and plans to send one or two adult players to grow up in the Japanese soccer environment. He believes that Chinese soccer should learn from Japan, from players to staff, all-round improvement of soccer level.

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