Woohoo!
The moment Wang Shuo scored, a wave of cheers erupted across the stadium.
Just as he excitedly turned to run back, a figure suddenly lunged toward him.
He was tackled to the ground inside the penalty box before he could even get a clear look at who it was.
"We scored! Haha, we scored!"
"We finally scored!"
Only then did it register with Wang Shuo.
The person on top of him was none other than Andre Schürrle, the very guy he hadn’t been seeing eye-to-eye with.
But before he could process it, more teammates rushed over from behind, piling on one after another.
Especially those beasts from the midfield and defense, who were all over 1.9 meters tall on average!
Wang Shuo was now experiencing firsthand what it felt like to be crushed under a pile of huge guys.
’It’s just one goal, do you guys really have to dogpile me like this?’
’Get off me!’
After a great effort, everyone finally calmed down from their frenzy, but Schürrle still had an arm slung excitedly around Wang Shuo’s shoulders.
"Wang, that goal was so timely, so crucial!"
His affectionate display made Wang Shuo wonder, ’Is this really Schürrle?’
’Bro, I think I prefer your old, defiant self.’
But he was starting to understand.
On a youth team, a little competition and even mutual stubbornness were common.
But when it came down to it, on the pitch, whoever could help the team score and win would earn the acceptance of their teammates.
The football pitch was an arena where skill did all the talking!
As a newcomer, Wang Shuo really needed to build a good relationship with his teammates.
Since Schürrle was being straightforward and making a friendly gesture, it was only natural for Wang Shuo to return the favor.
"It was mainly because your pass was so good. The moment I controlled it, the chance was there," Wang Shuo said, giving Schürrle a thumbs-up.
The praise hit the mark. Schürrle laughed heartily and squeezed Wang Shuo’s shoulder even tighter.
His posture was like a declaration to everyone: From now on, Wang is my brother.
My best brother!
On the sidelines, Kramny watched with a surprised expression.
He knew the personalities of every player on the team he’d coached like the back of his hand.
Even a prickly character like Pedro Lina was, at worst, just a bit headstrong due to his talent; he wasn’t a bad person at heart.
Schürrle’s issue was more of a simple rivalry, a clash of egos common among young men.
But now, Kramny was still surprised at how quickly Wang Shuo had resolved the "conflict" and integrated seamlessly with Schürrle and the others.
Football is different from other sports.
No matter how skilled you are, on the pitch, you ultimately have to rely on your teammates.
This raised Kramny’s assessment of Wang Shuo to a new level.
...
After Wang Shuo’s goal, Offenburg U19 made four consecutive substitutions in the span of less than ten minutes.
Their head coach, Zemitischi, still hoped to strengthen their offense and equalize the score.
Their goal was to avoid relegation, and securing points in home games was crucial.
This played right into the rhythm Mainz U19 was most familiar and skilled with.
Defensive counter-attacks.
In the end, however, Mainz U19 failed to score again.
Wang Shuo also clearly identified a problem with Mainz U19.
The midfield simply couldn’t get the ball forward!
It was a rather awkward situation.
According to the German Football Association’s youth development regulations, there is a minimum requirement for the amount of playing time each youth player must get per season.
Therefore, around the 80th minute, Mainz began to make substitutions.
As players like Robin Medinitz and Schürrle were subbed off and Hoffenheim and others came on as replacements, Mainz focused even more on defense.
Wang Shuo was heavily marked by the opposition and couldn’t find a good way to break free.
The match ended with Mainz U19 securing a 1-0 away victory over Offenburg U19.
Although it was only a one-goal victory, everyone at Mainz was still very happy.
Especially as they were walking off the pitch, Kramny singled out Wang Shuo for praise in front of everyone for his performance after coming on.
"You were the number one reason for our victory today!"
Kramny’s words were met with nods of approval from the surrounding players.
Wang Shuo had been the one to initiate the goal-scoring play.
It was his tackle that launched the quick counter-attack.
And Wang Shuo was also the one to finish it, sealing the deal by scoring the crucial goal for Mainz U19.
No matter who it was, everyone recognized Wang Shuo’s contribution.
"That was a beautifully played match, Wang. Keep up the hard work for next week!"
Wang Shuo smiled and nodded in agreement.
...
After the match, the team had lunch in Offenburg before heading back.
Although Mainz had a limited budget, the lunch was nutritionally balanced and quite good.
On the ride back, the bus was quiet.
Sitting next to Wang Shuo, Schürrle put on his headphones to listen to music.
The guy had even chosen to sit next to Wang Shuo during lunch, and their relationship was steadily improving.
Wang Shuo, on the other hand, pretended to close his eyes and rest, but he had actually entered the Ball God System.
The system had sent him a notification when the match ended, but he hadn’t had a chance to look at it closely.
"Match Statistics. Passive Value obtained: 4."
Wang Shuo was surprised when he saw this message.
He opened his Personal Attribute Panel, and sure enough, the number next to Passive Value had changed from 0 to 4.
’What’s going on?’
’Was it because of the goal?’
Wang Shuo quickly dismissed that possibility.
He thought of another possibility: the number of times he was fouled.
Although German football had long since developed detailed data statistics, and the head coach of Mainz’s first team, Klopp, was a manager who relied heavily on them, such things weren’t available for youth league matches.
Wang Shuo had played for just over half an hour and had been fouled by the opposing players several times.