The entire year of 2022 was not a good one for the five teams; their performance could be described as dismal.
As these teams had successively entered youth league competitions, the training intensity for these junior teams was, for the most part, supposed to exceed that of their opponents. However, the age gap was still too significant.
Consequently, the five teams experienced a string of losses, with only occasional victories, none of which were worth mentioning.
However, the opposing clubs profited handsomely. Each win earned them $100,000 in prize money. Coupled with goal difference, this averaged to around $200,000 per match. It was a very profitable venture, and each team was highly motivated to secure more wins with a better goal difference.
Under the tutelage of such opponents, the abilities of the five youth teams naturally improved. The strongest performer among the five teams was the youth team located in Italy. After an initial 12 consecutive losses, this team managed to secure a five-game winning streak in the latter half of the season.
Although they eventually lost again, they ultimately avoided the bottom of the league and reached the mid-table level, which could be considered a cause for celebration.
The worst performing team was the one in France. Perhaps due to France's worst performance last year, some teams even relegated players who had already joined their second team back to the youth league. Their objective was to regain lost face from these Chinese children.
The result was that the French team suffered repeated defeats, accumulating a staggering 32 consecutive losses, making them the most unfortunate team among all.
However, Western media outlets were not concerned with which team lost the most. They were only interested in one thing: the eldest son of the world's richest man, Huang Fan, who was almost certain to be the next world's richest man, and in which country's team he was playing.
The entire world knew that the primary reason Mr. Huang had invested so heavily in football, even sparing no expense to nurture these five youth training teams for over a decade, was to cultivate a team capable of helping his son reach the World Cup.
And Huang He's eldest son was undoubtedly in one of these five teams. However, there was no one named Huang Fan in any of these five teams. It was clear that Mr. Huang's son had changed his name to avoid attention.
But this was precisely what fascinated all the media. Everyone wanted to know how the "son of heaven" was performing, what position he played, and whether he could reach the national team level.
They employed numerous methods to uncover this secret, but almost all failed. Everyone in the training camp, including every player and their parents, had signed extremely stringent non-disclosure agreements with Jiangnan Group. Any leak would result in financial ruin due to compensation.
Simultaneously, adherence to the non-disclosure agreements brought in a substantial monthly retainer. Moreover, the entire training camp and teams had minimal contact with the outside world, except for routine interviews after each match. Although the players had one day off each month, they rarely ventured out due to language barriers or were simply not allowed to.
In essence, no media outlet could figure out who Mr. Huang's son was, which successfully relieved Huang Fan of immense pressure.
In the last month of 2022, the World Cup had concluded, and most leagues had ceased. The players from the other four teams in Europe had returned home for the New Year. Only the players in France had to endure another month as they had a relegation match to play.
That's right, after 32 consecutive losses, the Chinese youth training team in France had fallen into the relegation zone. They needed to win three relegation matches to remain in the youth league; otherwise, they would be directly eliminated.
Of course, the French Football Federation would not allow this team to leave. The other clubs, which had earned $500,000 to $600,000 from this team this year, would also not agree to their departure. They wanted them to remain in the youth league next year.
Therefore, logically, the Chinese youth training team could have returned home early to rest for three months before returning to compete again.
However, the French Football Federation insisted that the team play all remaining matches. Their reason was perfectly legitimate: since they requested to enjoy the same treatment as all other teams, they should also play the relegation matches like other teams that had fallen into the relegation zone.
In response, the Chinese youth training team had no complaints. They gritted their teeth and continued to train. They could not afford to lose even one of the three relegation matches. Losing even one would mean their nominal elimination, which was something no one wanted to accept.
Thus, all players played with exceptional intensity and effort in these three matches. And since their opponents were in the relegation battle, their strength was naturally not very high. Consequently, they won the first two matches, but faltered in the last one.
In the first half, both teams were goalless. In the second half, each scored one goal. As the match was about to go into extra time, the opposing team suddenly set a handball trap, and the referee unhesitatingly awarded a penalty.
This was a critical penalty for the Chinese youth training team. With only two minutes left until the end of the match, the penalty taker could be chosen freely. Usually, the team's best penalty taker with the highest success rate would be chosen.
This was why Mbappé was able to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final. He was the team's best penalty taker, and he was awarded and converted the two penalties, helping him achieve the hat-trick.
And this opponent's team happened to have a player known as the "Penalty King." Although this team's record throughout the year was not great, this penalty taker had an astonishing 100% success rate, not missing a single penalty all season, which was truly impressive.
Therefore, this player had already been selected for his club's second team. This was his last year playing in the youth league, and after this season, he would directly transition to professional football, a dream opportunity for many players on the team.
Just as this golden penalty taker was preparing to shoot and secure the victory, news came from the Chinese youth training team that they had decided to change the goalkeeper, sending in someone else to defend against this penalty.
Some readers might find it strange that the goalkeeper could be changed when a penalty was about to be taken.
This was perfectly permissible. Even if a penalty shootout was imminent, there were no restrictions on changing the goalkeeper. The total number of substitutions was three. If a goalkeeper was changed, a substitution slot from another position would inevitably be used.
Since goalkeepers rarely had a significant impact on the offensive aspect of the game, unless a goalkeeper was injured, it was uncommon for a team to proactively change their goalkeeper. However, this time they did.
The player who came in was extremely tall. At only 11 years old, he was three years younger than the youngest player on the opposing team, yet his height was comparable, reaching nearly 1.7 meters, giving him a formidable presence.
"Why is he on the field again?" several opposing players seemed surprised. This goalkeeper was not someone they had never seen before. In fact, in last year's youth league, this goalkeeper was the starting keeper, and his performance was somewhat average.
However, in the youth league, his abilities were no longer sufficient. Although he was tall, he was hesitant in his movements, and his saves were not decisive. Furthermore, when the ball was being passed around quickly and then suddenly shot, he often showed no reaction or made very poor judgments.
If it weren't for this goalkeeper's poor performance early on, this team might not have ended up in a relegation battle.
Later, the coach likely could no longer tolerate it, and after 10 matches, he replaced this goalkeeper with a new one whose abilities were much stronger, making it less easy to breach their goal.
It was also precisely because of this incident that this tall goalkeeper was immediately excluded from the list of potential candidates for Huang Fan.
The reasoning was simple: How could Huang He, who had single-handedly supported the entire team, allow his son to not even be a starting player?
Even with extremely poor performance, he had to be a starter. Otherwise, wouldn't all that money have been wasted?
Since this tall goalkeeper was replaced, it meant that he was definitely not Huang Fan.
The facts proved this to be true. In subsequent matches, this tall goalkeeper rarely appeared. Occasionally, he would start a match, but after consistently poor performances, he would be directly substituted.
He hadn't been seen for nearly 20 matches, and no one knew why. However, in the final match, they brought him back onto the field.
But the coach's decision proved to be incredibly wise.
Because when facing the penalty, this tall goalkeeper seemed like a completely different person. Gone was the anxious and chaotic expression from normal play. His eyes were fixed solely on the ball, staring so intently that the "Golden Penalty Taker" felt a bit unnerved. When he kicked, his power was slightly off, and the ball, kicked with a gentle trajectory, was easily caught by the tall goalkeeper, thus ending the "Golden Penalty Taker's" 100% penalty success rate.
Afterward, the match proceeded smoothly into extra time. Neither side scored during the extra time period, naturally leading to a penalty shootout.
In this segment, the goalkeeper once again displayed astonishing judgment and save-making ability. Three out of the opposing team's five penalties were directly saved.
As for the remaining two... since the Chinese players successfully converted their first three penalties, there was no need to take the remaining two shots. The Chinese youth training team narrowly won the match. Although they would not have been truly eliminated from the league even if they had lost, the team still secured their place in the league through their own efforts.