WOAH!!
The moment Wang Shuo scored, a collective gasp of shock erupted from around the stadium.
"Mainz actually scored?"
"And they scored a goal like *that*."
"Good God, how is that possible?"
"What’s the name of the guy who scored?"
Before today’s match, Bayern Munich U19 was already on a six-game winning streak in the Southern Division.
In those past six matches, Bayern had scored 19 goals and conceded only 3.
Led by Thomas Müller, this Bayern Munich U19 team’s performance in the Southern Division was even more dominant than the Bayern first team’s in the Bundesliga.
The only reason they were ranked third in the league table was that Bayern hadn’t taken the first half of the season seriously at all.
The moment the Bundesliga giants paid even the slightest bit of attention to the U19 league and shifted some resources over, their results improved dramatically.
But now, this seemingly invincible Bayern team had been scored on by Mainz.
The area around the pitch was packed with people.
Wang Shuo, Schürrle, and Medinitz could only celebrate the goal on the athletics track at the side of the pitch.
The Bayern players on the pitch were also a bit unsettled.
Since February, no opponent had managed to equalize against them.
Today was the first time!
Wang Shuo, however, gathered his teammates in a huddle.
"We have to give it our all."
"Now that we’ve tied the score, we have a chance to beat them."
"Even if Bayern is a god in the Bundesliga, right now, that god has started to bleed!"
...
Niedermayer watched the pitch in utter astonishment.
But it wasn’t because of Wang Shuo’s goal.
It was because of the lateral run he made before the goal, and the sudden forward burst that followed.
Niedermayer had started his career as a right-back, and a German international-level right-back at that.
So he knew exactly what Wang Shuo’s sudden lateral movement meant for a defender.
Throughout the entire defensive sequence, Badstuber hadn’t made a mistake.
Before Wang Shuo made his lateral run, he and Elbu had already set up an offside trap.
But Wang Shuo’s lateral run neutralized that plan perfectly.
He was forced to follow him, moving laterally as well.
No defender can allow the player they’re marking to escape their defensive zone.
Especially a player with such exceptional speed as Wang Shuo.
But as Wang Shuo moved sideways, the gap between Badstuber and Elbu widened.
And wasn’t Medinitz’s pass played right through the middle of the two center-backs, into the space behind them?
That’s why Niedermayer, with his right-back background, knew that Badstuber had done his best.
’Did he really plan that in advance?’
Niedermayer found it hard to believe.
If that was the case, then this Asian player was terrifying!
On the current Bayern team, there was also a player who was exceptional at off-the-ball movement: Thomas Müller.
Rummenigge had watched Thomas Müller play, and his evaluation was very interesting.
"He doesn’t have extraordinary talent. His physique is average, his technique is average, and his speed is also very average. But he just knows how to score goals."
How?
It’s that ghost-like movement and his sharp instincts in front of the goal.
But Thomas Müller couldn’t run like Wang Shuo, because he lacked the speed.
At the same time, he couldn’t think three steps ahead with every move he made, like Wang Shuo just had.
That was an absolute demonstration of top-tier football intelligence!
’A player like that should be playing for Bayern!’
After muttering to himself, Niedermayer took a small notebook from his pocket and quickly jotted down a few words.
Mainz, Asia, WANG.
No one noticed him. In the dense, impenetrable crowd of fans, there was another German who, just like Niedermayer, had also been a right-back. And he was just as stunned by the run and the goal.
...
Wang Shuo returned to the pitch.
Bayern’s forward, Thomas Müller, stood in the center circle, ready for the kickoff.
When their eyes met, Wang Shuo could clearly sense the excitement in the young German prodigy’s eyes.
It was the feeling of a chess master meeting their match.
But Wang Shuo didn’t see Thomas Müller as his opponent.
Instead, he was targeting Badstuber.
For a while, the Bayern center-back had been playing with elegance and composure.
But after Wang Shuo’s goal, he seemed to have been provoked.
The next time Wang Shuo had his back to the goal, preparing to receive the ball, Badstuber rushed up from behind and went straight into a slide tackle, taking down both the man and the ball.
But it was a clean tackle.
The referee’s whistle blew immediately.
’Another point of Passive Value acquired!’
As Wang Shuo got up from the ground, he looked at Badstuber with a grin.
Schürrle had said that this center-back, who had just turned 19, was a key starter for the Germany U19 team and was about to be selected for the U20s.
At the same time, just like Thomas Müller, he was a rising star that Bayern was heavily promoting—a future national team player.
’A player like him is the perfect one to farm for points!’
Besides, Wang Shuo also wanted to know just what level he had reached after all the recent matches and improvements.
Did he have what it took to go head-to-head with the best center-back of Germany’s younger generation?
"That last goal doesn’t count. I’m going to score another!" Wang Shuo said provocatively, staring directly at Badstuber.
’He’s deliberately trying to provoke me,’ Badstuber thought.
But he still replied coldly, "You won’t get another chance!"
...
The match resumed.
As halftime approached, the players on both sides were starting to feel the strain.
They were all young players, between 17 and 19 years old, who had yet to be tempered by the professional leagues.
Many hadn’t even undergone professional strength and conditioning training.