On July 20th, two weeks into the team's training camp, the club brought in the first opponent for a warm-up match - Kottbus.
For Werder Bremen, choosing Kottbus as the first opponent for a warm-up match was obviously a carefully considered decision.
This is a club from the German second division. They briefly advanced to the Bundesliga for two seasons but quickly got relegated due to their inadequate strength.
The opponent's strength is not strong, probably half a notch weaker than Werder Bremen.
Playing against them helps the young players in the team build confidence. With many senior players leaving the team for the new season, they have to rely on these young players to carry the torch.
However, young players' mentality is not stable enough and they are prone to collapse in the later stages of the season, just like Arsenal, who go all out in the first half of the season but falter in the second half for some reason.
In addition to helping the team's young players build confidence, choosing a relatively weak opponent means their defense won't be under too much pressure. They can focus more on attacking and better test the results of the team's offensive tactics.
In this match, both Lin Quan and De Bruyne made it into the squad.
The difference is that De Bruyne was named in the starting lineup, while Lin Quan was only a substitute.
Lin Quan's attitude towards this was very calm. He never thought he would immediately get a starting position, after all, his current physical fitness is not enough to play a full game.
Being a substitute and coming on at a critical moment in the second half when the opponent's energy is declining, to seize the opportunity to change the game, is much less challenging than starting and wrestling with opponents with full energy.
"Ding Ding, come on, I'm rooting for you!"
Lin Quan fist-bumped De Bruyne to encourage him, and De Bruyne nodded shyly.
The match started quickly. 23,000 spectators came to Weser Stadium for this friendly match, with about half of the seats empty.
This is not surprising, considering that the team has lost many senior players and is now playing a friendly match against lower-level league opponents, which doesn't have much appeal to the fans.
After the match started, Werder Bremen quickly took the initiative.
Kottbus chose to defend in their own half and counterattack.
This is a very pragmatic choice. When facing a stronger team, a slightly weaker team, if it recklessly goes out to attack, it's easy to be torn apart by the opponent.
Especially against Werder Bremen, a team with strong attacking capabilities, if defense is not reinforced, if a disaster happens, it will have a very unfavorable impact on the mentality of the team players for the new season.
"They've indeed chosen to defend!"
Assistant coach Rolf frowned, nervously speaking up.
"Yeah, as expected!"
Schaaf remained calm, as if he had anticipated the opponent's choice.
"There are too many defensive players in their backline. We can't penetrate through the ground, we can only rely on crosses from the wings, but the effect may not be good!"
Another assistant coach, Henebach, was also worried. Breaking through dense defenses is a universal challenge, and he was concerned about whether these young lads on the field could handle it.
"Now it depends on these young lads, whether they can withstand the pressure and change the game!"
Schaaf sat on the coach's bench, arms crossed, calmly watching the performance of the players on the field.
This match and the following warm-up matches are important references for him to determine the starting lineup for the new season.
Whoever is capable, whoever performs outstandingly, can be easily seen in real matches.
The capable ones go up, the mediocre ones go down. Werder Bremen this season will firmly adhere to this principle.
Moreover, even if the team temporarily fails to make a breakthrough, he is not worried because he still has an ace up his sleeve.
Thinking of this, Schaaf turned his head to look at Lin Quan, who was sitting on the bench, watching the game intently.
He is very much looking forward to this young lad who has surpassed countless others on the training ground.
On the bench, Lin Quan appeared to be watching the game intently.
However, if you observe closely, you'll notice that his focus isn't on the field.
Yes, Lin Quan is distracted.
Just as the main referee blew the whistle to start the match, the dormant dog system, silent for two months, resurrected once again.
There was no "Ding" sound, nor any abrupt task announcements.
But there appeared a module in Lin Quan's consciousness that he could perceive.
Curiously, Lin Quan let his consciousness spread over, and this module unfolded in his mind.
After opening the module, there appeared something resembling an operating interface.
It looked like a game, and the protagonist of the game seemed to be himself.
Clicking on the player information column, his profile popped up as expected.
Name: Lin Quan
Age: 16 years, 153 days
Birthday: February 20, 1996
Nationality: Spanish
Position on the field: TBD
Club: Barcelona
League: Bundesliga
League Appearances: 0
National Team Appearances: 0
Current Template: Messi
...
The content in the first half of the profile was nothing special, but the last column surprised Lin Quan.
The current template is easy to understand, but does the appearance of this term mean that he can replace it with other soccer superstar templates in the future?
On this issue, Lin Quan inquired with the system.
[In theory, yes, but in practice, not really. Because the previous soccer superstars have all retired, their abilities have greatly declined, and they can no longer reach the level of soccer superstars, so it's impossible to replicate their attributes.]
Uh, okay, that makes sense. After all, it's not so easy to obtain a soccer superstar template! Having Messi's template, Lin Quan was already content.
So, he began to explore the other features on the interface.
In addition to the player information column, there were two other modules: a task module and a system store.
This system seems quite lazy, with just these three things, it dares to call itself a soccer superstar system?
That being said, he still curiously opened the task module and found an unread task reminder inside.
After clicking on it, a system task popped up:
[Task Introduction: Soccer superstars are not made in a day, just like Rome wasn't built in a day. They grow through countless matches and battles, and you, are about to take the first step in your professional career!]
[Task Requirements: Make an appearance in the match between Werder Bremen and Kottbus and lead the team to victory. Completing the task rewards 1 point.]
According to the system's introduction, points are the key to unlocking the system store.
By accumulating enough points, you can access the system store.
Moreover, the currency for purchasing items and equipment in the system store is points.
And points can only be obtained from completing system tasks and winning matches.
Initially, Lin Quan didn't pay much attention to this. With Messi's template already in hand, what else does he need?
What could be better than Messi's template?
So even without those junk items in the system store, he still has the confidence to become the next soccer superstar.
However, after browsing through the system store, Lin Quan couldn't help but exclaim, "It's amazing!"
Leaving aside everything else, the talents in the system store, talents like injury immunity, top-notch prediction, unstoppable running, big heart, and Mr. Clutch, are indeed amazing!
(End of this chapter)