Capítulo 92: Lin's Nutmeg!
The pace of the game picked up, with both teams launching wave after wave of attacks, quickly threatening the opponent's goal in their half.
Both teams' goals were under tremendous threat, with dangerous situations arising all around, giving the constant sense that a goal could be conceded at any moment.
In the 19th minute, Holtby passed to Huntelaar with his back to the goal. Huntelaar took a great shot, but it hit the crossbar.
The fans at Weser Stadium let out a sigh and cursed. When they saw Huntelaar's shot, they thought it was in, but the crossbar betrayed them, preventing their team from scoring.
Two minutes later, Werder Bremen quickly counterattacked, and Lin's shot inside the penalty area hit the post.
The fans at Weser Stadium collectively clutched their chests, relieved that the woodwork had helped their team; otherwise, they would have fallen behind.
It was like both teams were playing a game of punches and counter-punches, with each one responding to the other's attack.
Even though there were no goals at the moment, the game wasn't boring; it was very exciting.
This was typical of the Bundesliga; both sides went all out, directly attacking and expressing themselves through offense.
This type of game was very entertaining because, whether a chance was good or bad, it all ended with a shot on goal.
If they couldn't score inside the penalty area, they took long shots from outside the box.
If long shots didn't work, they found ways to use headers to get the ball into the box!
In short, every possible way to score a goal was being used, regardless of whether it worked or not; they would try it first.
The game was thrilling, but it was a bit too intense, causing the Schalke 04 fans' hearts to race.
They didn't see the scene they had hoped for before the game, where Schalke 04 would dominate Werder Bremen.
Instead, both sides were going back and forth, and Werder Bremen's counterattacks were even more threatening.
In this chaotic battle, whoever had the best chance-creating ability would be the first to break the deadlock.
But their home team was still struggling to score, while every counterattack from the opponent sent shivers down their spines.
The mining fans were puzzled. How could Werder Bremen, who they had beaten twice last season, suddenly become so hard to play against?
Last season, when they faced Werder Bremen at home, they even slaughtered them with a 5-0 score.
But now, facing them again, they were struggling to score a single goal! Thirty minutes into the game, both sides combined for over 15 shots on goal, yet not a single goal had been scored.
As they saw their team struggle to score, many Schalke fans began to worry: Could our team lose this game?
Fearful thoughts began to surface: "Could our team really be about to lose this game?"
Suddenly, in the 32nd minute, Werder Bremen won the ball in midfield and quickly counterattacked.
After a few neat passes in midfield, the ball came to Lin's feet.
Lin looked at the opponent's defensive position and saw an opportunity on the right side. He dribbled towards the opponent's right flank.
Schalke's midfielder Neustädter rushed over to intercept, but a reckless attempt to tackle was easily bypassed by Lin.
After getting past Neustädter, only Schalke's defensive line was left in front of him.
Right-back Uchida didn't dare to give him space to advance and immediately signaled for his teammates to support the defense.
He himself chose to intercept and wanted to stop Lin.
To stop Lin, he had made a lot of preparations before the match.
He had watched almost every previous game of Lin, analyzing his ways and habits of dribbling in matches.
He knew that Lin had a quick pace and was good at using feints to deceive defending players.
This made him very cautious and absolutely not one to recklessly attempt a tackle.
Uchida's defensive approach was to block the space, force the opponent to slow down, and then let his teammates come back to defend and double-team Lin to steal the ball from him.
Lin's dribbling was very good, but under the double-teaming and intense physical confrontation, he was unlikely to keep the ball.
He had analyzed other teams' successful defensive experiences against Lin, finding that most of the time, Lin was forced to slow down, losing his dribbling and passing space.
But attempting to steal the ball from the opponent's feet during a fast dribble was very difficult. With the opponent's high frequency of touches, the defending player couldn't keep up with his rhythm.
Uchida's choice was correct, and his teammate Papadopoulos also cleverly positioned himself not far behind him.
Even if Lin broke through him, his teammate would intercept him.
Feeling fully prepared, Uchida cheered in his heart:
Come on!
Lin, let me see your true strength!
How are you going to break through my impenetrable defense?
Uchida's eyes were full of expectation. If he succeeded in defending this time, it would prove that he had found a way to contain Lin! Lin's playing style is very similar to Messi's. If I can successfully contain Lin, then maybe we can contain Messi in the same way!
Containing Messi is something even the world's top defenders struggle to do. If I can achieve this, I will surely make a name for myself, and become famous with a single goal.
Thinking of this, a smile spread across Uchida's face. It was as if he could see himself being poached and pursued by top clubs!
Lin looked at the other person strangely. What's with this guy? Why is he so excited to see me coming at him? Doesn't he worry about getting passed and losing a goal?
With no time to think, Lin quickly made a decision after seeing Uchida's choice.
He simply swayed and adjusted his pace, pretending to break through from the left side of Uchida.
It's happening! Is he really going to break through from here, or is it a fake move?
Uchida faced the difficult choice that almost all defender's face when dealing with Lin and Messi: judging the opponent's breakthrough direction.
His weight had shifted, right foot landed and became the supporting leg. This must be real, not a dummy!
Uchida quickly made a judgment, ready to intercept with his left foot raised. But as he extended his foot, Lin retracted his right leg and took a half step forward with his left.
What? Was that a feint just now?
Uchida stood still, bewildered. The opponent's weight had clearly shifted; how was that a feint?
Indeed, tactics on paper and real combat were two entirely different things.
During his review of Lin's game footage, he knew the other party was skilled in using deceptive moves. But when it came to actual combat, he was still susceptible to being deceived because the opponent's tricks were so convincing.
Uchida's reaction time wasn't as fast as Boateng's. If Boateng were defending here, seeing Lin's adjustment, he would have instinctively moved his body to the right, attempting to trip himself. However, Uchida didn't have that exceptional awareness or robust physical attributes.
His body's center of gravity was still adjusting, and he hadn't completed the previous action. At this point, he couldn't make any reaction at all.
So, he stood there like a wooden stake, watching the opponent bypass him.
The fans at Werder Bremen Stadium were in an uproar. Not being players on the field, they didn't understand the brief contest between both sides. They only saw their right back being bypassed by the opponent like a piece of wood, which made them almost begin to curse Uchida's female relatives!
Papadopoulos was surprised to see Uchida being bypassed. He quickly took up position, hoping to hold Lin back until his teammates returned to defend.
But Lin, who had completely accelerated, was not that easy to fend off.
He dribbled to the right side, pretending to go left, the same choice that led to Uchida being bypassed just now.
Papadopoulos saw the entire process of his teammate being bypassed and knew that he had been deceived by the opponent's feint.
So he kept telling himself not to be fooled by the opponent's fake move, but his body still couldn't help but move a little to the left.
It was almost a defender's instinct! Fortunately, his movement wasn't significant, and he adjusted in time without completely losing his position.
But even a half-second hesitation from the opponent was enough for Lin.
After seeing the opponent's reaction, Lin quickly dribbled twice at high speed while running, with the ball returning to his left foot. Then, just like his teammate, Papadopoulos was bypassed like a wooden stake.
On the sideline, Schalke's coach slammed his suit jacket to the ground. "Why didn't you foul before the opponent entered the penalty area? Why not double-team, one after the other, instead of lining up to send yourselves to death? How dare you think you can individually intercept the opponent?"
The fans at Weser Stadium couldn't help but hold their breath, standing up subconsciously, stretching their necks to look at their own goal, starting to pray:
"Please don't score, please don't score!"
"We have to defend!"
The young 22-year-old rookie Unnerstall remained calm when facing Lin's one-on-one attack.
He knew his opponent's shooting accuracy was terrifying and stopping his shot was very difficult.
So when he saw Uchida being bypassed, he decided to charge forward, intending to intercept the ball from under Lin's feet along with Papadopoulos.
However, before he could position himself, Papadopoulos was already beaten, leaving him one-on-one with Lin!
At this point, he couldn't retreat to defend the goal but had to expand his defensive coverage as much as possible to reduce the angle of Lin's shot.
Unnerstall, tall at 198 cm, looked like a giant in front of the 173 cm Lin.
His towering presence gave him a vast area to block shots. It wasn't easy to get past his defenses.
On the Schalke bench, including the previously agitated head coach Jens Keller, many people had stood up, nervously watching their own goal.
Seeing Lin with a one-on-one opportunity, they felt a chill run down their spines.
In the Bundesliga's stats, this kid had an astonishingly high success rate in one-on-one situations, rarely making mistakes.
If he got a one-on-one chance, it was almost certain to be a goal!
The first half wasn't over yet, and if they allowed the opponent to take the lead too soon, the game would be difficult!
Initially, the entire Schalke team was in despair, but Unnerstall's decisive move brought a glimmer of hope back into their hearts!
As Unnerstall and Lin got closer, the latter still hadn't taken the shot.
This indicated that the angle for shooting was getting smaller and it was becoming harder to beat the goalkeeper's defenses.
Did the opponent make a mistake?
The Schalke team couldn't figure out the situation, but seeing this turn of events, they breathed a sigh of relief.
No matter what, as long as they could contain the opponent's one-on-one threat, they would get away with it!
"Oh no, that shot should have been taken earlier. Too much hesitation, now there's no angle for a shot!"
In the CCTV studio, Focuzo started to worry about Lin.
Facing such a tall and sturdy goalkeeper, the longer he hesitated, the less chance there was of scoring.
If he decisively took the shot, he might still score.
On social media, the ten-year fans of Werder Bremen were also getting anxious seeing Lin delay his shot.
"What's wrong with Lin today? His shot selection isn't logical!"
"Yeah, he's hesitating too much, seems out of form!"
"Even that earlier hit on the post, under normal circumstances, he would have scored for sure!"
"Could it be that he's intimidated by the home momentum?"
"Impossible, right? Lin, Lin, king of big games, not one to choke in big matches!"
Just when everyone thought this one-on-one was about to be foiled, Lin made a move.
He dribbled sideways, seeming to want to create distance, change angle, and shoot into the empty goal.
But the goalkeeper wasn't going to allow that. Unnerstall immediately stretched out his long legs to block the ground ball while extending his hand to intercept a higher shot.
With his extended leg, the opponent had no chance to get past him!
If the opponent tried a lob, he could react in time to intercept the shot in the air.
This was his best defense mechanism, ensuring that the opponent couldn't threaten the goal behind him!
However, at the moment he stretched his leg, Lin suddenly paused, glanced at Unnerstall's "personal area," and lightly kicked the ball.
Unnerstall didn't expect the opponent to be so sneaky, focusing on his private area.
Seeing the opponent's shooting motion, he crouched down immediately, trying to block the ball with his body.
But his movement was too slow. His towering height of 198cm gave him a massive defensive area but reduced his agility, making it difficult to turn his body quickly.
Watching the ball roll past him under his groin, Lin smiled broadly!
From the moment he entered the penalty area, he had planned this shot. Unnerstall had a large frontal defensive area and had positioned himself well.
Given his height, even Lin might not be able to score in a tight corner.
The best way to score was to trick the goalkeeper and shoot into the empty goal.
Or find a way to get past his defenses to prevent him from blocking.
Unnerstall had been cautious, not letting Lin slip past him.
But when Lin tried to dribble sideways and fake him out, Unnerstall had to stretch his leg out, giving Lin an opportunity.
The ball went past Unnerstall, rolling into the goal in front of over fifty thousand fans at the stadium.
Although the ball was slow, it still crossed the goal line and hit the net before stopping.
Watching the ball roll into their own goal, the fans at Weser Stadium fell into a silent shock.
We're behind!
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