Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Breaking Two Records, Neuer Suffers in the Background
Lin Quan's goal greatly boosted the morale of Werder Bremen.
After his goal, almost all the players, including goalkeeper Milicevic, rushed over to celebrate with him.
"Well done, Lin!" "That's how you do it!"
Teammates either hugged him, patted his head, or slapped his back, offering congratulations and encouragement in various ways.
Captain Fritz gave Lin Quan a hug, patting him on the back and saying, "Keep it up, let's score a few more against them!"
De Bruyne joined in, saying, "I'll pass to you, just find the space!"
Goalkeeper Milicevic suggested, "How about I just kick it long from the back? That way, we can bypass their midfield!"
Lin Quan pointed to his height, saying, "Sebastian, I appreciate your kindness, but if you kick it long to me, I might not be able to win the header. Isn't it too difficult for someone of my height to compete in aerial duels?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Quan's teammates looked at the height difference between him and goalkeeper Milicevic and burst into laughter.
"It's a bit tricky, how about we let Arnautovic play the ball to you?"
Lin Quan instinctively looked at the tall figure beside him. Arnautovic, standing at 192 centimeters tall, was excellent in heading, making him a good choice for aerial duels.
But would he agree to let the team's main striker play second fiddle to him?
"No problem, leave it to me!"
To everyone's surprise, Arnautovic readily agreed without hesitation.
It seemed that the Austrian was intimidating in appearance but easy to talk to.
Neuer stood with his hands on his hips, looking disgruntled as he watched Lin Quan being congratulated by his teammates.
Scoring in his debut game, Lin Quan broke both the youngest starter and youngest goalscorer records.
And he was just a backdrop to one of those records.
This left Neuer feeling very frustrated. He had done everything he could, but still couldn't stop the opponent from scoring.
The problem lay in the defense, but he didn't blame his teammates. It was just one goal, not worth getting upset over.
"Come on, let's focus. Don't underestimate the opponent just because they seem weak!"
Neuer clapped his hands forcefully, shouting to his teammates.
Lahm gave him a apologetic look, exchanging a glance with Boateng.
Both of them were determined to defend against Lin Quan better in the upcoming match, not giving him any more chances.
On the coaching bench, Schaaf stood up involuntarily when he saw Lin Quan get the ball. He didn't sit down until Lin Quan scored, a satisfied smile on his face.
This kid was indeed a big-game player, showing no signs of nerves even in such situations. Perhaps they could consider giving him more tactical arrangements.
In contrast, the other coaches on the bench went crazy when Lin Quan scored, rushing to the sidelines, hugging and shouting.
"Damn it!" "God, how did that ball go in?" "The opponent is just lucky!"
On Bayern's bench, the substitutes and assistant coaches had consternation written all over their faces, finding it hard to accept this result.
As for Heynckes, seeing the opponent score first, he merely frowned slightly.
Werder Bremen's number ten came as a surprise to him.
The opponent displayed a mentality and experience beyond his age. Ram had set several traps for him while defending, but he managed to avoid all of them.
This kind of handling experience is usually seen in experienced veteran players, not in a sixteen-year-old.
Either the opponent was slow to react and didn't notice Ram's traps, or he was an absolute genius who could ignore the opponent's defensive traps.
He preferred the former, because if it was really a genius, Bayern would probably have trouble in this match!
So, during the time before the restart, Heynckes called over Kroos.
"After the kick-off, tell the teammates to increase the pace of the game. Also, arrange for someone to mark their number ten. Discuss the specifics with Ram, but make sure not to give him comfortable space to receive the ball."
Kroos nodded heavily. With Schweinsteiger absent in this match, Bayern's midfield relied on him to carry the load.
This was quite a test for the young Kroos!
The game quickly resumed.
After Bayern's kick-off, they were not affected by conceding a goal. They continued to besiege Werder Bremen's goal.
In the 11th minute, Robben's breakthrough on the right caused a foul by a Werder Bremen player, and the referee gave a yellow card to Werder Bremen's number 16, Junuzovic.
Two minutes later, Robben came back again.
Affected by the yellow card on his back, Junuzovic dared not make too aggressive moves in defense, resulting in Robben easily bypassing him.
This time, Robben seemed to realize that the attack was not solely his responsibility, so he immediately passed to Muller, who was following up in the middle.
Muller did not stop the ball but cleverly passed it to Shaqiri, who quickly started and shot after receiving the ball. The chance was good, but unfortunately, his shot went slightly wide of the goal, leaving Bayern fans holding their heads in disappointment.
In the 16th minute, Bayern Munich successfully stole the ball in the frontcourt, and Muller's long pass pierced through Werder Bremen's defense line.
Bayern's center-forward Gomez received the ball in the penalty area, turned around under the interference of two defending players, and forcefully shot, only to hit the post and bounce out.
This shot startled Werder Bremen's fans. The opponent's shot opportunity was not good, but the quality of the shot was extremely high.
If it weren't for the post, the score might have been equalized already.
During these few minutes, Bayern launched a siege on Werder Bremen's goal.
Bayern raised the tempo of the game to a high level, causing Werder Bremen to struggle to keep up, resulting in frequent mistakes.
Both De Bruyne and Lin Quan were marked tightly by Bayern players, making it difficult for them to receive passes from teammates.
Without them getting the ball, Werder Bremen couldn't launch a counterattack and could only be suppressed by the opponent.
This couldn't go on. If they kept defending like this, they would definitely concede a goal.
As expected, in the 23rd minute of the game, Bayern played a clever combination in the frontcourt.
After a series of passes, Werder Bremen's defensive formation was disrupted. After Robben's shot was saved by the goalkeeper, Thomas Muller cleverly followed up and scored.
The score on the field became 1-1!
After scoring, Muller was very excited. He ran to the sidelines, raising his arms to the audience, asking for applause.
Bayern fans immediately cheered and applauded him warmly.
Other Bayern players also excitedly ran over to join the celebration. When passing by Lin Quan, Lahm specially said, "Kid, you guys won't beat us!"
Lin Quan glanced at him, ignored him, and turned back to his own half to comfort his teammates.
He didn't like arguing with people. Compared to trash-talking, he preferred to prove himself through actions.
Today is the author's birthday, as well as the birthday of the protagonist Lin Quan, so an extra chapter is added to celebrate!
Also, thanks to several readers for their rewards. Thank you all!
(End of this chapter)