章節 23: Chapter 23: Recognition from the Team Leader
After De Bruyne scored this goal, he ran towards the sidelines, pointing towards Lin Quan, inviting him to join the celebration.
He knew that besides his own excellent shooting ability, half of the credit for this goal belonged to Lin Quan's precise pass.
If Lin Quan hadn't attracted so many defenders and found that opening to pass the ball, De Bruyne wouldn't have had such a comfortable opportunity to shoot.
Lin Quan smiled as he ran over, patting De Bruyne's head and praising, "Kevin, that shot was really beautiful!"
"Thank you, your pass was excellent too!"
At this moment, their teammates also rushed over to join the celebration, applauding De Bruyne for the goal and Lin Quan for the assist. Captain Fritz even gave them a warm hug.
Lin Quan and De Bruyne's outstanding performance in this game had earned recognition from these senior players.
"Young lads, well done!"
"Keep up this form, score more goals for the team in the new season, and win more games!"
"Thank you, captain, we'll do our best, you'll see!"
Lin Quan confidently replied, while De Bruyne nodded in agreement.
The captain was satisfied with their response. After the celebration, he loudly called on the teammates to return to their positions, reminding them not to relax their vigilance just because they were leading 2-0.
History has seen many teams suffer tragic reversals when they relaxed their defense while leading in the score, the most famous being the champagne celebration at Istanbul.
Lin Quan and De Bruyne were not the type to become complacent after scoring a goal. They quickly returned to their positions.
The game resumed.
Despite being two goals behind, Kortbus didn't give up. Instead, they shed their fear of losing and committed more forces to attack.
However, SV Werder Bremen's 4-1-4-1 formation, with five midfielders in defense, severely limited their attacking options.
The battle in the midfield was intense, making it difficult for Kortbus players to retain possession, let alone organize attacks.
As a last resort, Kortbus abandoned short passes through the center and resorted to traditional long-ball tactics to challenge SV Werder Bremen.
This exposed SV Werder Bremen's weakness in defending against long balls, as their lack of protection on the flanks gave Kortbus two chances within five minutes.
Fortunately, the opponents' ability to capitalize on these chances was poor, and neither resulted in a shot on goal.
Realizing the defensive issue, Coach Shaaf called Captain Fritz over for instructions.
Upon returning to the field, Fritz stepped back to become a center-back. Meanwhile, the midfield line shifted back, and SV Werder Bremen's formation became a 5-4-1!
This change infuriated the away team's coach. How could a Bundesliga team like SV Werder Bremen resort to a defensive formation with five defenders against my 2. Bundesliga team?
Facing the away team coach's angry gaze, Coach Shaaf remained calm and composed, showing no signs of embarrassment.
Such friendly matches are meant for teams to practice various tactics and strategies. If they're afraid of affecting their image and reputation and don't dare to try new things, then playing such matches becomes meaningless.
Moreover, a 5-4-1 formation is not just a defensive retreat; it's another offensive tactic.
When they play with a 5-4-1 formation, the opponents will inevitably press high up the field.
This gives the wingers plenty of space to exploit, making their counterattacks even more threatening.
Coincidentally, they have wingers with strong individual abilities in their lineup.
So, for Shaaf, stepping back one step is actually for a better offense.
Shaaf's desired counterattack scenario soon unfolded.
In the 78th minute of the game, SV Werder Bremen launched a quick counterattack from the back.
Fritz, who was playing as a makeshift center-back, saw the huge gap in the opponent's defense and sent a diagonal long pass directly into the opponent's half.
Lin Quan had already started his run when the ball was switched, and by the time Fritz made the pass, he was neck and neck with the opponent's defenders.
The opponent's defenders were a step slow to react and couldn't catch up with him. They could only wave their hands, signaling offside, while futilely chasing from behind.
The assistant referee ignored the offside gestures from the defending players. He saw clearly that Lin Quan wasn't offside at the moment of the pass; it was just that his lightning-fast start gave the illusion of being almost offside.
The goalkeeper chose to come out at the first opportunity. With such a one-on-one chance, staying in the small penalty area was almost a death sentence.
The ball was almost equidistant from both players, but Lin Quan's speed had already reached full throttle, while the goalkeeper had just begun to react.
So, before the goalkeeper could touch the ball, Lin Quan got to it first.
He lightly tapped the ball with his toe, and the ball, like a mischievous elf, slipped past the goalkeeper's legs.
With a thud, the goalkeeper sat on the ground. He had already anticipated the opponent's intention when he saw Lin Quan tapping the ball. But his reaction was a beat slow, failing to stop Lin Quan from slipping through his legs and scoring.
Lin Quan bypassed the fallen goalkeeper and caught up to the ball at the goal line.
Since the defending players were still some distance away from him, after stopping the ball, he glanced at the defenders before kicking it into the goal.
The score was now 3-0, and Werder Bremen had completely secured victory.
"Lin, you're so fast!"
Captain Fritz happily ran over to hug Lin Quan. This goal counted as his assist, but if he had passed to someone else, he might not have gotten that assist.
"It's thanks to your good pass, Captain!"
Lin Quan replied with a smile. Nearby, Nils, upon hearing the captain praise Lin Quan, felt quite displeased.
He had actually created some space just now, but Lin Quan was already one-on-one with the goalkeeper, even dribbling past him. Naturally, he couldn't pass the ball to him.
Lin Quan wasn't so selfless, especially since Nils hadn't participated in celebrating with him or De Bruyne when they scored earlier. Lin Quan didn't feel much goodwill towards Nils.
Feeling annoyed, Nils, as the team's main striker and loaned from a powerhouse like Bayern, felt like he was marrying beneath him. The other side should cherish and support him.
So, after the match started, he loudly demanded the ball, especially when Lin Quan and De Bruyne had it.
Both these loaned players, who scored like him, with Lin Quan even scoring twice as a substitute, if he, the full-time striker, didn't score, where would he put his face? Plus, if he didn't get the ball from them, they couldn't continue scoring.
Lin Quan didn't have much goodwill towards Nils and pretended not to notice his requests.
De Bruyne, on the other hand, was an honest child. When he saw Nils asking for the ball, he passed it to him.
Unfortunately, the Kortbus players, who were trailing 3-0, were already filled with frustration.
Nils neither had De Bruyne's excellent passing ability nor Lin Quan's insane dribbling skills.
When he had the ball, he faced immediate double-teaming and tackles. Not only did he quickly lose possession, but he also ended up being knocked down by the opposition, flipping over.
His slender body didn't have an advantage in the physical battles against the tall central defenders, and it was unclear where his confidence in dribbling came from.
Seeing Nils constantly being knocked down by the opposition, Coach Schaaf on the sidelines worried about his safety and replaced him early.
Also substituted was De Bruyne, who had played most of the match.
Similarly subbed out, when Nils left the field, the fans showed no reaction.
But when De Bruyne left the field, the fans warmly applauded him.
(End of this chapter)
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Johanssen10
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