In the 13th minute, Javier's header was caught cleanly by Pickford.
The Everton goalkeeper looked up instinctively toward the right flank.
A white shirt was already sprinting forward.
"Bloody hell, he's quick," Pickford muttered.
He took two steps forward, leaned back slightly, and launched the ball with a long, powerful throw.
The ball flew through the bright afternoon light, arcing toward the open grass ahead.
It had to be said that Pickford's distribution was among the best in England.
Even over a long distance, he could maintain impressive precision.
Immediately after, under the rising gasps of the Wembley crowd, Jeremy Ling swept forward like a gust of wind.
The Philippines' left centre-back, Para, tried to step up and challenge him.
Ling did not slow down, instead, he accelerated.
His right foot poked the ball out of mid-air, and he burst forward after it without breaking stride.
Para's expression stiffened.
He was just a player unwanted by Austria. Did Ling really need to be this brutal against him?
Even Alaba might have struggled with that touch.
The Wembley crowd stared intently at Ling, and a single thought seemed to pass through the stands.
"Round the keeper."
"Round the keeper."
"Round the keeper."
Facing Falkesgaard, who had rushed out of goal, Ling stepped, feinted, stepped again, and before the goalkeeper could properly adjust, the pendulum movement had already done its work.
There was no need for another feint.
Falkesgaard lost his balance and fell awkwardly onto the grass.
For a brief second, he had the same helpless thought as so many goalkeepers before him.
Was it really necessary to use the pendulum against me?
Ling pushed the ball into the empty net.
Goal!
Wembley erupted again, the sound rolling around the bowl of the stadium with growing disbelief and delight.
England fans were already beginning to understand what Manchester United fans had known for two years.
This was the kind of football that made a crowd rise before the ball had even crossed the line.
The England players watched Ling celebrate with a raised fist, and the gap between ordinary excellence and true world-class quality became painfully obvious.
Some silently encouraged themselves to train even harder in the future.
Exceptional players always made others want to draw closer.
Of course, there were also those who would simply enjoy the ride, because with a player like Ling in the team, even the scraps that fell from his table were enough to make everyone's lives easier.
On the sidelines, Southgate's expression sharpened.
The first order of business was clear.
He had to make sure England did not become a team that waited for Ling to solve everything.
A player like this could elevate the entire side, but if the rest of the team became lazy because of him, then his arrival would become a crutch instead of a weapon.
Southgate looked back toward the pitch, where Ling was already gesturing to Kane and Sterling about the next pressing trigger.
After a moment, Southgate spoke to Holland in a low voice.
"We build around him, but we don't hide behind him."
Holland nodded.
That, perhaps, would be the real test of England's new era.
...
"BBC News, BBC News."
"In the international A-level friendly that concluded yesterday, England defeated the Philippines 5–0 at Wembley Stadium."
"Jeremy Ling created three brilliant goals in the first half, directly forcing Philippine defender Daisuke Sato into a red-card foul. He was substituted in the 52nd minute and was later named player of the match."
"After his departure, England continued to control the tempo and eventually secured a comfortable 5–0 victory."
"It is not difficult to see that since Jeremy Ling's arrival, England have shown a new dimension in front-line organization, transition speed, finishing, and individual ball-carrying ability."
"Of course, the Philippines' strength is limited, and England will face much tougher opponents in future European Championship qualifiers and major tournaments. For Southgate's team, the real test is not whether Ling can shine against weaker opposition, but whether the team can integrate him without becoming overly dependent on him."
"To quote one England fan interviewed outside Wembley yesterday: 'We've had hope before, but this feels different because he gives us something we usually don't have.'"
"..."
That was how the BBC morning segment summarized the match.
English football was filled with excitement, even though it had only been a friendly against the Philippines.
The supporters had not just seen a win, they had seen a new possibility.
At the same time, the mood in China was far more complicated.
Some people refused to watch the highlights. Some watched them over and over again in silence.
Some cursed him, while others quietly defended him under comment sections that had already turned into battlefields.
But even those who were angry could not deny one thing.
Jeremy Ling had been brilliant!
...
At St George's Park, the England players had already returned to training.
YOYO fitness test.
Its full name was the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test, a method designed to measure repeated high-intensity endurance.
It involved shuttle runs at increasing speeds with short recovery intervals, simulating frequent actions in matches such as acceleration, deceleration, sudden stops, turns, and repeated pressing.
It had been invented by Danish sports scientist Jens Bangsbo and had been used for years by clubs and national teams around the world.
Of course, this was only a conventional training method, not the sole criterion for whether someone could play football. After all, there were plenty of geniuses in football history who were never famous for their running numbers.
But for most modern players, physical capacity still mattered enormously.
High-intensity pressing, physical duels, repeated sprints, recovery runs, and concentration late in matches all required a powerful engine.
Without that base, technique would start to fall apart in the second half, passes would become sloppy, shots would lose power, and defensive positioning would begin to crack.
Beep—beep.
The piercing whistle sounded again, and Jeremy Ling accelerated instantly, with only a few players still able to follow.
Jordan Henderson, Declan Rice, Mason Mount, and Raheem Sterling were still running, while several others had already stopped with their hands on their hips, panting heavily.
After two more rounds, even Mount dropped out.
Sterling lasted a little longer, but eventually slowed down with a grimace, waving his hand as if to say he had no intention of killing himself in a fitness test.
In the end, only Ling and Henderson remained.
Henderson pushed himself through one final set before stopping, bending forward with his hands on his knees.
Ling completed the last round and did not continue either. He slowed down, exhaled steadily, and glanced at his teammates.
England's physical level was already far higher than what he had seen in most national teams, but there were still differences between players.
Some had the engine to press for ninety minutes, while others were more dependent on positioning, rhythm, and explosive moments.
There was a saying in football: if you were talented enough, you did not need to worry too much about physical fitness.
But in reality, the faster modern football became, the more physical fitness turned into a foundation for talent.
Of course, training endurance to the extreme was not the answer either. If running alone solved everything, clubs might as well hire marathon runners to play football.
Football was still football.
Without the ball, nothing worked.
Mourinho had once told Ling that great pianists never ran laps around the piano, nor did they do push-ups beside it.
Footballers needed to train physically, but the ball could never disappear from the process.
After the five-minute break ended, Southgate signaled the start of the next training phase.
Some of the players looked troubled, but no one questioned it.
Ling's arrival had raised the standard around the camp, not because he shouted at anyone, but because his own habits made it difficult for others to slack off without feeling exposed.
Southgate had also made his attitude very clear before training.
"Future starting lineups will be determined by tactical needs, data, training performance, match form, and the opponent we face. Reputation matters less than readiness."
In simpler terms, the best would rise to the top.
By the time the session finally ended, everyone gathered in the recovery area, chatting while receiving massages and treatment.
"Jeremy," Jadon Sancho asked, rubbing his sore calves, "do you train like that every day at United?"
"This is actually a scientific plan the staff designed based on the camp schedule and everyone's condition," Ling replied after putting down his phone. "At the club, we don't train exactly like this during the season because the schedule doesn't allow it. Pre-season is much tougher, though. That's when the real suffering starts."
Several of the younger players were curious about his club experience.
Some asked what it felt like to play against Manchester City at full intensity, while others wanted to know how heavy the Champions League trophy really felt.
Ling answered patiently, occasionally adding a few dry remarks that made the others laugh.
Noticing Sancho's hesitant expression, he asked, "Thinking about something?"
Sancho hesitated for a moment before saying, "It's not about me. I'm already abroad. But you know a lot of young players, right? Do many of them actually want to come to Europe?"
"More than people think," Ling said.
His tone became a little more serious.
"Wanting to come is one thing. Getting the right route is another. Some players come too late. Some go to the wrong club. Some don't adapt to the language, food, training, or loneliness. Some are talented enough, but their contracts trap them before they even get the chance."
Henderson, who was lying on the next treatment table, turned his head slightly.
"That's the hard part. Everyone talks about talent, but the pathway matters just as much."
Ling nodded.
"Exactly."
At that moment, his phone vibrated again.
It was a message from Zhu Chenjie.
After Ling's England debut, Zhu had not sent any dramatic words of support or disappointment. He only asked one simple question.
[Ling, does your previous offer still count? If I want to try going abroad, can you still help recommend me?]
Ling looked at the message for a moment before typing back.
[Of course it counts. I chose England's shirt, but that doesn't mean I stopped caring about Chinese football.]
A few seconds later, Zhu replied almost instantly.
[Then I want to go.]
Ling smiled faintly.
He had already thought this through.
Right now, all four levels of English football required a work permit, but Manchester United had relationships with clubs such as Antwerp, Utrecht, and Livingston.
With Zhu Chenjie's ability and age, the chances of finding a suitable platform were not low.
The salary would not be very high.
Non-top-five league teams generally paid like that, and it definitely could not compare to what he could earn domestically, even with the salary cap in place.
But if a young player truly wanted to improve, money could not be the first consideration.
Ling typed carefully.
[The salary won't be high. Food and accommodation can be arranged depending on the club, but you need to be prepared. You'll be far from home, the language will be difficult, and no one will treat you like a protected young talent. If you perform badly, you sit on the bench. If you can't adapt, you come back with nothing.]
Zhu Chenjie's reply came quickly.
[No problem. I don't spend much anyway. If there's a chance to play, I'm willing.]
Ling could almost imagine the young defender's excited expression.
Zhu Chenjie knew that starting at a smaller club would give him consistent playing time.
Hadn't Ling himself worked his way up from the academy, the U15s, the U18s, and then the first team?
Progress in the Chinese Super League was ultimately limited.
A player could earn more money domestically in the short term, but sometimes what he traded away for that money was his future.
Even if he failed to become a player like Ling, as long as he could secure a starting spot in a mid-to-lower-table team in one of the top European leagues one day, the long-term benefits would be something he could not even imagine right now.
And even if he did not make it that far, going abroad would still make him stronger.
Chinese players had already proven that through their own experiences.
By the time they returned to China, they would not be the same players anymore.
Ling sent another message.
[Take a few days to think it over. If you really want to go, I'll help recommend you.]
After sending that, Ling leaned back against the treatment table.
He had already decided to give up part of the benefits from his domestic endorsements to subsidize young Chinese players who wanted to go abroad.
He had benefited from Chinese football's attention and market, so why not give something back to Chinese football?
Not only that, he was preparing to establish his own youth training club, hire professional coaches, build a proper system, and provide comprehensive training.
For young players from other youth institutions, if they could pass specific assessments, he would cover the costs of overseas youth training.
He had already chosen the name.
Chasing the Wind.
He wanted to use his influence to ignite a ray of hope for the future of Chinese football, but passion alone would never be enough.
A proper system was necessary, and so was commercialization.
In other words, Ling could invest, but he could not simply burn money forever.
The project needed to survive, and ideally, it needed to turn a profit.
Only when people saw that youth football could be commercially viable would capital be willing to enter the field.
Only then could grassroots youth coaches, the ones who worked out of love, earn enough to support their families instead of surviving on passion alone.
Everyone sought profit and nothing moved without it.
That was simply reality.
The systems in Europe could not be copied directly into China, but they were worth learning from.
At the same time, those pioneers in China who had focused on youth training had already opened a narrow trail.
What Ling wanted to do was widen and smooth that road.
---------
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