In the hearts of 23 young football players from Heze, during the two-month Argentine foreign training, "Argentina" and "dreams" are becoming more concrete.
On December 24, at Beijing Capital International Airport, a group of children wearing red jackets with the logo of the football team of Beijing Sports University and Heze Caozhou Martial Arts School on the jacket came to an end after nearly 30 hours of flight.
From the first friendly match in Argentina to watching the Argentine Premier League at the professional stadium, from the 1-1 draw in the first friendly match to the 3-0 victory over the same team in the late stage of foreign training, the growth of the children is like a parent-like coach.
"This group of children is the most hard-working, willing to train hard, and especially hard work I have ever seen. "That's what the Argentine coach said about this group of kids.
The 32-member team consists of 23 athletes, 9 coaches, athletes aged 13 to 15, all of whom have martial arts skills. During the training camp in Argentina, Chinese football teenagers Xi learned advanced foreign football concepts and technologies through training and competitions, and realized the comprehensive improvement of their own competitive ability.
Group photo of the football team of Beijing Sports University and Heze Caozhou Martial Arts School after landing in Beijing Source: Heze Daily
Children grow up fast
After arriving in Argentina, the Chinese football players played their first friendly match against the Argentine Doble 55 inco football club. "Steady and steady, to feel the difference. Zhao Futuo, the coach of the football team of Caozhou Wushu School of Beijing Sports University and Heze, has been telling the players, "Friendship first, competition second", and told them to drink more water.
The match of the day was a 1-1 draw. But this group of children has been holding back a lot of energy in their hearts, "In the same training base, other training teams in Argentina only train once a day, while our children train twice a day, the children are willing to bear hardships and stand hard work, and they are particularly daring to fight, from the end of the first friendly match, this group of children are saying, 'Train hard and win glory for the country'." Zhao Futuo told reporters.
In the middle and late stages of the training, the children met again with the Argentine football club Doble 55 inco in the green field, this time 3-0 against the opponent. "When the whistle blew, we felt that all the hard work we had put in paid off, and even though it was a friendly match, everyone had the feeling of winning glory for the country. Hou Qingyu, a member of the football team of Caozhou Martial Arts School of Beijing Sports University and Heze, told reporters at the age of 15.
In the two months of Argentina's foreign training, there was a friendly match per week for the first three weeks, and then two friendly matches per week, and a total of 8 friendly matches were played during the external training period, with 1 draw and 3 losses in the first 4 games. The coach has always told the children that "friendship first, competition second", but the children's spirit of not admitting defeat has always prompted the children to work harder to learn football knowledge and football skills Xi Xi and after continuous learning and hard training, the last 4 friendly matches were all won.
At the end of the training camp, the children also played a friendly match against Athletic Platense, the 17th-ranked club in the Argentine Premier League.
"Through friendly competitions again and again, children can learn through competitions, see their own shortcomings from others, and learn from each other's strengths. Jia Zhendong, captain of the Caozhou Wushu Football Team of Beijing Sports University and Heze and principal of Caozhou Wushu School, told reporters that in this external training, the children were exposed to different football concepts and football culture, broadened their horizons, improved their football skills, improved their new understanding of football, and set up more ambitious goals.
Bringing Chinese martial arts to Argentina
The Caozhou Martial Arts School Football Team was first established in 2017 and is called the "Kung Fu Football Team" because all the students of the martial arts school are selected. During the training period, the martial arts classes every Sunday also made Chinese martial arts bloom in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Knives, sticks, overlord whips, nine-section whips, martial arts classes every Sunday and wonderful martial arts performances attracted the locals and the staff of the base to stop and watch during the training, and the children of the football team also taught Chinese martial arts to local children. When the football team returned to China after training, the team members presented their martial arts equipment to the training base and the Argentine children who were training at the same base, and the young players of the two countries also took a group photo and exchanged gifts.
Shi Guohua, a member of the Caozhou Wushu Football Team from Beijing Sports University Heze, received chocolates from the Argentine friend Thomas, and Shi Guohua presented Thomas with Chinese knots with Chinese characteristics, Shi Guohua showed the reporter the chocolates that Thomas gave to himself, and told reporters: "I brought these chocolates back from Argentina and want to treasure them." ”
"This is the more precious harvest for children outside of the competition, they can not only go abroad and Heze, but also make new friends with confidence. Zhao was pleased with the children's performance and hoped that the experience would broaden their horizons and see the level of teams at different levels in different countries.
From the capital of peonies to the kingdom of football
In this external training, the players also fulfilled their "football dream" of watching the game on the spot.
At 9:30 p.m. on November 27, Beijing time, in Argentina, the players watched the 14th round of the group stage of the A-League Cup, the competition against Belgrano, the players walked into such a professional stadium for the first time, and watched a professional-level game on the spot for the first time.
This is the first time these players have watched a professional football match. The professional players, the fierce competition, and the enthusiastic spectators were infectious, and they often couldn't help but stand up and applaud. While watching the game, they were also carefully observing the professional positioning and technology, and had the opportunity to see the stars up close, and the young players were moved by the fighting spirit on the field.
After watching the game, the players were more active in training than before. One of the team members said: "One day I will go abroad on behalf of China and stand on such a field." ”
At the end of the training camp, the staff of the Argentine AFA Football Association also led the players to visit the Argentine Premier League professional clubs River Plate Club and Boca Juniors Club, and watched the River Plate Club Museum and venues Xi.
"I hope that by watching professional games and visiting professional football clubs, I can teach the players new things, bring new ways of thinking, and let them discover that football can still be played like this. Jia Zhendong told reporters that the Argentine coach felt that these children were highly motivated and had a desire to learn new knowledge Xi their eyes.
Brighten up children's life paths
In addition to football, children also see the bigger world.
When they were about to leave Argentina, the players recalled many "firsts" in Argentina: the first time they took a plane, nearly 30 hours of flight time, the first time they ate Argentine food, the children said that they Xi were not used to eating and missed the food of their hometown even more, and the first time they watched a professional football game, the children were "enthusiastic" and said that they should learn Xi football skills more seriously and strive to participate in more professional football games.
In this interview, the reporter once again met Zhu Xiaolei, a member of the Beijing Sports University Heze Caozhou Wushu Football Team, who was interviewed before leaving for Argentina. He didn't like to talk when he met before, but after he came back, he was no longer shy and introverted when talking to reporters, but greeted him naturally, confidently telling reporters what he had seen and heard in Argentina.
Zhao Futuo found that while the children of the team learned Xi football skills, they also learned "self-confidence" and "politeness". The children's goals are becoming more specific and determined, from "playing well" to "playing professionally" and so on, and they are becoming more confident when it comes to telling their dreams. This time, I brought the players to Argentina, as if "planting a seed" in their hearts.
Jia Zhendong hopes that these children can bring back the football knowledge they have learned Xi Argentina to China, learn skills, return to the motherland, and contribute to the motherland. ”
On December 24, when he arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport, Shi Changhua, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the Heze Sports Bureau, was picking up the children home.
"The return of the Kung Fu boy from the Argentine training camp not only caused a 'football trend' in the city's primary and secondary schools, but also played a good leading role in the city's football youth training work. Shi Changhua introduced that in recent years, Heze City attaches great importance to campus football work, adheres to the concept of "youth training is king", and constantly consolidates the foundation of football development.
Guided by the "Wushu +" cross-discipline material selection model, Heze Sports has embarked on a unique competitive sports development path, and has made breakthroughs in the innovative "Wushu + Football" development model around football projects, and has repeatedly achieved good results in various competitions at all levels.
▌Source: Volkswagen.com