Chapter 104: Breaking Records Again, The Terrifying Strength of the Twin Stars!
On December 8th, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the Weser Stadium was packed to the brim.
Despite the team's previous home loss to Leverkusen, it didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the Parrot Legion fans in the slightest.
After losing, the team immediately secured a resounding victory away, boosting their confidence in winning against Frankfurt at home.
Moreover, in this round of matches, the team's twin stars, De Bruyne, would also make a comeback, allowing the fans of the Parrot Legion to enjoy the partnership of the twin stars at home, undoubtedly the most anticipated and happiest thing for them.
"Let's warmly welcome the players of our Parrot Legion onto the field!"
The host's words elicited a warm response from the fans, with over fifty thousand fans standing up collectively, chanting the name of every player entering the field.
Militz, Papastathopoulos, Prödl, Schmidt, Fritz...
The applause and cheers grew louder with each name, especially when Fritz entered the field, reaching its peak.
Shen Yiwei covered her ears, somewhat overwhelmed. She had never watched a football match in a stadium before, and she didn't expect the atmosphere to be so lively.
Is this the charm of football?
"Lastly, let's welcome our team's number one striker, the genius from La Masia Youth Academy—Lin!"
Before the host's voice even faded, the entire stadium erupted into the loudest cheers yet, surpassing the cheers for every other player!
"Lin!"
"Lin!"
"Lin!"
The entire stadium resounded with chants of Lin Quan's name, and Lin Quan, upon hearing it, smiled and waved to the fans in the stands.
The team's recent big win had completely restored morale, and just before this match started, club manager Allofs also issued him the bonus he had earned in the first half of the season.
The amount of this bonus was quite substantial. Allofs initially thought he was seeing things when he saw the number.
After confirming multiple times, he finally believed that the number itself was the problem!
A youth team player had earned a bonus of 1.13 million euros in just half a season. Was this a joke?
With a skeptical attitude, he called Barcelona to verify the situation, and the result from Barcelona confirmed that Lin Quan's bonus was indeed that much, with no mistake.
Now Allofs began to doubt life:
Were these Barcelona guys too extravagant?
They actually offered such a high bonus to a young player holding a youth team contract?
It's simply outrageous!
But just thinking about Lin Quan's performance on the field, Allofs immediately felt that this contract seemed reasonable.
Barcelona offered such a high bonus probably to retain Lin Quan and keep him in the team!
...
On the field, Lin Quan didn't get distracted by other things.
Their opponent in this match was very strong, requiring them to give a hundred percent effort to take it seriously.
"How should we play later?"
Before the kick-off, De Bruyne asked him.
"Should we launch a lightning attack?"
Lin Quan glanced at the opponent's formation and asked De Bruyne.
"We can, but how do I pass the ball to you? I don't know your trick!"
De Bruyne looked at Lin Quan eagerly. He really wanted to learn Lin Quan's forty-five-degree curved pass.
"I'll teach you after we win this game!"
Lin Quan didn't refuse to teach De Bruyne because he was stingy, but because he had just recovered from his injury.
If he taught him this move now, knowing De Bruyne's personality, he would definitely practice it crazily.
Lin Quan was worried that his excessive practice might cause a recurrence of his ankle injury, so he couldn't easily agree.
But De Bruyne was like a dog chewing a bone, he wouldn't give up if Lin Quan didn't teach him this move.
Lin Quan had to relent and agree.
As soon as he heard Lin Quan agree to teach him the unique skill, De Bruyne became as excited as a 21-year-old child.
After being happy, he looked at the Frankfurt players with a completely different look:
Sorry, friends from Frankfurt, for the sake of that unique skill, I can only treat you as cannon fodder!
Seeing De Bruyne's excitement, Lin Quan couldn't help but smile inwardly:
Clearly, I learned this move from you, but in the end, you still want to call me Master!
...
At 4:30 pm, the game officially began.
Werder Bremen took the lead in the kickoff, and Lin Quan passed the ball back to De Bruyne before accelerating forward.
De Bruyne dribbled the ball closely behind him, and Werder Bremen launched a fierce attack on Frankfurt's half from the start.
The Frankfurt players obviously didn't expect their opponents to launch a lightning attack and were taken aback by their resolute play, causing some delay in their response.
"Stop him!"
The Frankfurt coach, seeing his players on the field react sluggishly like stakes, shouted loudly from the sidelines, reminding them to intercept De Bruyne and not let him continue dribbling.
When De Bruyne was absent before, Bundesliga teams only needed to focus on Lin Quan.
But now, it wasn't enough just to focus on Lin Quan; the opponent had added another attacking core, De Bruyne's passing had a great killing effect.
You never knew when he would pass the ball, in what way, and to where.
In terms of the suddenness and imagination of passing, De Bruyne was top-notch!
Seeing Lin Quan dodging the defensive players like an eel and running to the edge of the opponent's penalty area, De Bruyne passed the ball!
He only glanced at Lin Quan's position and the position of the defensive player while running at high speed, and then kicked the ball out.
Seeing De Bruyne's passing route, Frankfurt's No. 20 midfielder, Rode, judged that he might intercept the ball.
So he quickly ran towards the passing route and tried to intercept the ball as soon as it came.
He thought he had a sure grasp of this, but he didn't expect the ball to bounce off the ground and fly past his leg.
What? This also works? Rode was dumbfounded!
He turned back in horror to look at De Bruyne, was this within your calculation too?
De Bruyne was also surprised. He did indeed pass a bouncing ball.
The purpose was to increase the difficulty of interception by the defensive player.
But he didn't expect it to be so lucky, just rolling past a defensive player's leg.
This can only be said to be a lucky coincidence!
While sprinting forward, Lin Quan didn't just focus on running with his head down. While running, he would also turn around to observe De Bruyne's timing for passing.
When the ball passed the interception of the opponent's midfielder and was about to reach him, Lin Quan judged the ball's speed and accelerated into the opponent's penalty area.
The person arrives, the ball arrives!
Shoot!
The opponent's goalkeeper froze in front of the goal, unable to even make a save, and the ball had already flown into their own goal.
He subconsciously looked up at the match clock, and a shocking red number 9 appeared on it.
Only 9 seconds into the game, Werder Bremen utilized a lightning attack, with the twin stars De Bruyne and Lin Quan combining to rewrite the score.
This time broke the record for the fastest goal in Bundesliga history. The previous record was set by Kiessling in the 2001-2002 season between Kaiserslautern and Leverkusen, with a goal in 11 seconds.
And Lin Quan's goal truly raised this time by 2 seconds!
Many fans at the scene hadn't even reacted yet to their team scoring.
"Oh my God, is this real?"
"Am I dreaming? Are we leading with a goal right from the start?"
"This shot is really good, just a bit too fast, didn't even have time to see it clearly!"
"De Bruyne's pass was so beautiful, the opponent's midfielder was clueless."
After the fans at the Weser Stadium reacted, they were jubilant and lively, singing the anthem of the Parrot Legion:
"Our name is Werder Bremen!"
"Is the football king of the North or even the whole of Germany!"
"Green and white are our symbols!"
"Yunda, the champion from Weser!"
...
The lightning attack from De Bruyne and Lin Quan completely caught the Frankfurt coaching staff off guard.
They thought that after losing the last home game, Werder Bremen would play conservatively this time.
But they didn't expect the opponent to be so crazy, directly stunning them with a lightning attack.
The team fell behind just 9 seconds into the game, causing all the tactics they planned before the match to fail.
And falling behind so early would increase the pressure on the players on the field.
Playing with such pressure would increase their physical exertion and even distort their movements, greatly affecting their performance.
Damn Werder Bremen!
Damn the number ten and number six, damn the goal!
Compared to the frustrated visiting team coach, on the home side...
Schaaf and the coaching staff members were ecstatic! Being able to establish a lead so early greatly calmed the players' emotions.
It allowed them to play calmly and confidently.
In this state, players often perform above their usual level.
As a result, winning this game became much easier!
"Was that goal part of your plan?"
Schaaf asked several assistant coaches from the coaching staff, as he hadn't arranged such a strategy himself.
The assistant coaches looked at each other and shook their heads.
Seeing the assistant coaches' reactions, Schaaf understood.
He looked at Lin Quan and De Bruyne celebrating on the field, smiling:
So it was a tactic you two came up with yourselves! These two rascals always manage to come up with something new for themselves!
"Was that goal all part of your plan?"
Lin Quan also saw De Bruyne's graceful pass through the replay on the big screen.
"Not really, it was lucky, just happened to happen, and the opponent was unlucky too."
De Bruyne honestly confessed everything! After hearing this, Lin Quan even gave him a thumbs-up: "That pass was beautiful, make a few more like that, and I promise I won't waste them."
De Bruyne was puzzled, not being plagued by the front three of Manchester City, he didn't understand why Lin Quan emphasized not wasting the chances.
Lin Quan's efficiency in shooting was widely recognized within the team.
As long as a threatening ball reached his feet, there was a high probability of a goal; he rarely missed opportunities.
But with teammates so eager to score, De Bruyne was naturally willing to cooperate.
The game quickly resumed, and Frankfurt couldn't accept falling behind. After the kickoff, they launched an attack on Werder Bremen's half.
They seemed to want to replicate the lightning miracle that Werder Bremen created just now.
But unfortunately, their attack couldn't even get past Werder Bremen's midfield.
This was De Bruyne's first game back after an injury, and his performance on the field was very active.
Whether in attack or defense, his active figure could be seen.
With his and his teammates' joint efforts, they thwarted Frankfurt's crazy counterattack.
"De Bruyne missed four games; you can see he's very eager for the game!"
On the German TV commentator's stand, the commentators saw De Bruyne tracking back to his own penalty area and disrupting the opponent's attack.
They couldn't help but praise his positive defensive attitude! De Bruyne's defensive ability wasn't strong, and the team didn't rely too much on his defense.
But even so, he actively tracked back, tracking all the way to his own penalty area, this positive attitude was worthy of praise and recognition.
Because of the early lead, coupled with Lin Quan's goal greatly boosting morale.
In this game, the entire Werder Bremen team was very active in running.
Even Lin Quan, whose defensive ability was close to zero, tackled the opponent's forward in one chase.
"Hehe, the referee showed Lin Quan the first yellow card of the match!"
The guests in the commentator's booth saw Lin Quan's tackle and couldn't help but laugh.
"His defensive awareness is not bad, and his enthusiasm is undeniable, but his defensive strength is a bit..."
"I can't bear to look!"
"Yes, his defensive ability is a bit weak."
"From this, it can be seen that God is fair!"
"He gave Lin Quan top-notch attacking ability but gave him such terrible defensive ability."
"Hehe, defense mainly relies on experience, he's not a professional defender, lacking relevant experience, such a performance is normal."
"Indeed, I think he can learn from the team's defenders, learn about defensive positioning and timing of tackles, this way, he might make some improvement!"
"No no no, I think instead of improving his defensive ability, he should focus more on attacking, do what he's good at, rather than wasting his top-notch talent in pursuit of overall improvement!"
The commentators' opinions were not entirely unified, some believed that Lin Quan improving his defensive ability could bring greater help to the team.
Others believed that he should continue to improve his attacking ability and use more goals to help the team more effectively.
...
After Frankfurt's three-pronged attack, the team lacked follow-up strength, and their offensive firepower quickly diminished.
And after withstanding this wave of counterattacks, Werder Bremen began to firmly control the initiative on the field.
After recovering from an injury, De Bruyne's strength not only did not decline, but he became even steadier and more composed than before.
Now he looked more like a midfield general.
During the injury break, he studied Lin Quan's play in the attacking midfielder position.
Lin Quan's threatening passing ability may not be as good as his, but his ball control style from La Masia Youth Academy benefited De Bruyne a lot.
De Bruyne wasn't a traditional midfield commander who controlled possession; his ball control ability was weak.
And with weak physical confrontation ability, De Bruyne didn't stick to the ball too much on the field.
The ball would quickly leave his feet, which reduced mistakes but also meant that Fritz had to take on more responsibilities.
And with Fritz's position deeper, when launching attacks, passing the ball to the front required a transfer from the attacking midfielder or winger, which meant an extra pass.
And this extra pass could give the opponent's defense time to adjust, thus reducing their attacking efficiency.
Now, after learning from Lin Quan's playing style and with the help of teammates, De Bruyne could get more balls in midfield.
Not only could De Bruyne get more balls, but after getting the ball, he would also observe the positioning of teammates and opponents.
This made his passing and ball handling appear very reasonable.
Facing the upgraded De Bruyne, the Frankfurt players had nothing to say.
Every time he got the ball, the Frankfurt players were nervous.
Afraid he might send out some incredible passes again!
Because of this, they had to resort to frequent fouling tactics to deal with De Bruyne.
Less than forty minutes into the first half, Frankfurt had five players receiving yellow cards.
Two of the yellow cards were caused by Lin Quan, and the remaining three were caused by De Bruyne.
From the number of yellow cards drawn, it could be seen that De Bruyne's threat to Frankfurt was even greater than Lin Quan's.
Frankfurt attempted to limit De Bruyne with fouling tactics, but this was clearly futile.
Because Werder Bremen was no longer led by a single core but was jointly powered by two cores.
When the opponent focused on marking De Bruyne, Werder Bremen quietly changed their attacking tactics.
After Fritz got the ball in the backcourt, he no longer passed it to De Bruyne but directly gave it to Lin Quan on the wing.
After receiving the ball, Lin Quan ran along the sideline, penetrated into the opponent's thirty-meter area, quickly cut inside, and then passed the ball to De Bruyne.
In this way, it not only helped De Bruyne attract the opponent's defensive firepower but also brought his position to the opponent's half, helping him complete the most difficult advancement in positional warfare.
At this position, De Bruyne didn't need to do much, he just needed to pass the ball well.
And he didn't disappoint; faced with tight marking from the opponent, a delicate lob over the defending player's head landed in Frankfurt's penalty area.
Frankfurt's defensive line was pierced directly by this pass!
Lin Quan quickly moved forward, controlled the ball with his chest, glanced at the goalkeeper's position, and chose to shoot into the far corner.
This goal was very easy; the goalkeeper was powerless against it, only letting Lin Quan score again, changing the score to 2-0!
(End of this chapter)