Chapter 113: Scouts from Major Clubs Gather at the Allianz Arena!
Neither side managed to break the other's goal in the remaining time of the first half, and the score remained 1-1 until the halftime whistle blew.
Hearing the halftime whistle, Werder Bremen's players breathed a sigh of relief and walked happily towards their dressing room, surrounding Lin Quan.
On the other hand, the expressions of Bayern players were quite serious, especially the defenders, looking rather grim.
In the visitors' dressing room, Schaaf praised the players one by one.
When it was Lin Quan's turn, he smiled and said, "Lin, how did you spot Bayern's defensive weaknesses?"
While Lin Quan was attempting, Schaaf also came up with some ideas.
Before he could arrange for the players to execute his tactics, Lin Quan broke through Bayern's defense and scored.
This both surprised and delighted Schaaf!
"To be honest, there was an element of luck in that goal!"
Lin Quan explained with a smile. Originally, he wanted to see if he could evade Martínez by going left.
But Martínez followed, so he thought of using Robben's reluctance to defend. With his teammates' cover, he attempted to bring Martínez near the sideline to create a one-on-one chance.
"This trick worked once, but probably won't work a second time. In the second half, Robben will likely track back. If he still refuses to defend, Bayern's coach will surely replace him with someone willing."
Lin Quan knew that his goal was quite fortunate. If it hadn't been Robben on the left but Ribéry, it wouldn't have been so easy.
"Yes, you're right. But your thinking has given me inspiration. In the second half, let's play like this..."
Schaaf began to explain his new tactics on the tactical board, and the players listened attentively.
...
On the home side, Heynckes didn't criticize the players but found Robben alone.
"Arjen, I don't need your explanation. I just need you to answer me one question honestly. Can you do that?"
Robben's eyes dodged a bit, not daring to look the coach in the eye.
Although Heynckes didn't criticize him, Robben understood that he was partly responsible for conceding in the first half.
"Yes!"
Robben nodded heavily. A real man should be willing to take responsibility.
It's my fault, so there's no need to evade it. It's just about taking responsibility, nothing too serious.
Although I, Robben, have a bad temper and a bad personality, and I play selfishly sometimes, I'm not someone who shirks responsibility!
"Alright, if their number ten continues to appear on our left side in the second half, you need to track back promptly and help Martínez block him. Understand?"
Robben nodded heavily again, lifted his head, and stopped avoiding eye contact.
...
During halftime, in the stands, Bayern fans went to the restroom or drank water.
Because Lin Quan's astonishing goal had equalized their lead, the mood among Bayern fans was generally low, and even the noisy team songs were no longer sung.
But Chelsea's scout Deviser, who had come from afar, was quite pleased.
"Hehe, this kid is even more outstanding than I imagined. Given time, he will surely become a phenomenon in European football."
Although Deviser had only watched Lin Quan for half a game, his evaluation of Lin Quan was already very high.
Beside him, George Evans nodded repeatedly, agreeing, "Sir, your insight is truly remarkable. I've already submitted a scouting report to the club, detailing Lin Quan's information and recommending the team to sign him, but for some reason, my report wasn't taken seriously."
Every time he mentioned this, George felt both frustrated and angry.
If the club had really read his report and then followed his recommendation to sign Lin Quan, when Lin Quan became famous in the future, he could have become renowned as the scout who discovered him.
Deviser sighed. Although he hadn't learned the detailed circumstances, he could guess roughly what had happened.
Most likely, the club thought the other party was too young and wouldn't be liked by the club chairman, Abramovich, so they suppressed the matter.
"You don't know, there are quite a few scouts interested in Lin Quan. Just like this game, the guy sitting in that corner is the scout from Atlético Madrid, and the one in black is from Juventus.
The one in sunglasses and a duckbill cap is from Inter Milan, and there's this one, who is the scout from PSG."
Seeing Deviser silent, George became anxious and, like a detective, exposed several other scouts from different teams.
"Are all these scouts here to assess Lin Quan?"
Deviser was surprised. These colleagues acted so quickly!
"Yes, most of them are here to assess Lin Quan's performance, and a few are here to observe De Bruyne!"
Deviser nodded without saying much, then turned his head to look around, searching for familiar faces.
Suddenly, his gaze paused somewhere, and George followed his gaze, indeed seeing someone familiar:
"Isn't that Jason Ferguson, Sir Alex Ferguson's son?"
Deviser sneered:
"It's him, Jason Ferguson. He has a management company and is recruiting young players everywhere under the guise of his father!"
It is said that this guy, in order to make money and gain fame, once leaked information about Manchester United, even from the locker room, to the media, which infuriated Ferguson.
Unexpectedly, Ferguson, a legendary figure, had such a son, truly like father, like son.
He didn't want to waste time on such a person and resumed scanning the stands.
Suddenly, he paused again, and George took a look. He didn't know this person; he hadn't seen him before.
"Is that person also a scout?"
Deviser wasn't as sure as before:
"Yes, looks like someone from AC Milan, an old guy in the scouting world. Haven't seen him in so many years, didn't expect him to show up here!"
George immediately thought of the news that reporters had previously revealed. It was said that AC Milan was planning to make a €45 million offer to Barcelona to take Lin Quan away.
This news hadn't been confirmed by both parties, so its authenticity was uncertain.
However, the appearance of AC Milan's scout here seemed to prove that this rumor wasn't groundless.
"And those two over there don't look like ordinary fans..."
George made a new discovery, and Deviser's pupils suddenly contracted. He said solemnly:
"That's Real Madrid's senior scouts, Juan Carlos Caravatte and Manuel Romer!"
"Wait, those are Real Madrid's chief scouts?"
George was shocked to hear this. These two were big names in the scouting world, and even as a newcomer, he had heard of them.
Real Madrid was also rumored to be interested in Lin Quan, and now their two senior scouts appeared at the Allianz Arena together. Their purpose was obvious!
Deviser felt a bit uneasy. It seemed like the player they were evaluating was even more popular than they had imagined!
In fact, Chelsea's scouts missed one person. In an inconspicuous corner of the stadium, Joseph Minglia, a senior scout from Barcelona who had discovered Messi, also came to the scene.
"Minglia didn't come at the club's request but was personally commissioned by Barcelona's former honorary Cruyff to inspect Lin Quan."
"Rosell stripped me of my honorary chairman title, which doesn't matter to me; I don't need or care about such vanity. But I don't want to see him destroy Barcelona and destroy La Masia's youth training camp."
"He drove me away, forced Guardiola out, and now he's letting our La Masia's most outstanding young players wander outside. I really want to ask him, what does he want to achieve?"
Minglia still remembered the excited tone of Cruyff when he called him.
Cruyff's words deeply moved him: "Yes, why are our outstanding players from La Masia unwilling to renew their contracts with us, unwilling to wear the red and blue jerseys to fight at the Camp Nou?"
What is the reason for this? ... The 15-minute halftime break quickly ended, and the game resumed.
After the start of the second half, Bayern launched continuous attacks, seemingly trying to play at a faster pace.
The goal they conceded in the first half made them realize that relying solely on defense was not enough; if they wanted to win, they needed to score more goals.
Lin Quan's incredible goal won't happen often, but as long as they maintain a one or two-goal lead, it would be difficult for them to lose!
After Kroos and Müller were absent, Bayern's attack became very simple.
Their two wingers ran wildly down the wings, one madly crossing from the byline, and the other madly cutting inside to shoot.
The combination of Ribéry and Robben wreaked havoc on Werder Bremen's defense.
Forced to do so, Werder Bremen had to defend with all their players, staying near their own penalty area and dealing with Bayern's attacks.
For Werder Bremen, a draw at the Allianz Arena was acceptable.
Because this was a cup match, after a draw, they could still play extra time, and if it was still a draw after extra time, they could go to penalties.
However, it might not be the case for Bayern, so they had to keep increasing their attacking intensity.
"Robben cuts inside, tries to break through, but is intercepted!"
"The ball is still with Bayern, passed to Ribéry, Ribéry takes a direct shot!"
"The goalkeeper makes a crucial save, blocking Ribéry's sudden cold shot!"
In the commentator's booth, the commentators sweated for Werder Bremen.
Bayern's attacks during this period were too intense; they formed a siege on Werder Bremen's goal.
This won't work, everyone in the Bundesliga knows that Werder Bremen's defense is weak.
You need to attack, relying on defense alone won't stop Bayern's attack!
But to the surprise of the commentators, Werder Bremen actually held on.
Without Kroos and Müller, Bayern's attack seemed to revolve around the two wings, but the real threat still came from the center forward, Mandžukić.
When Werder Bremen amassed a large number of players outside the penalty area, the breakthroughs of Robben and Ribéry were restricted, and cutting inside to shoot became ineffective.
At this point, they could only pass the ball into the penalty area and rely on Mandžukić's individual ability to score.
But Mandžukić was successfully marked today; there were always two big and tall defenders around him, leaving him no room.
Unable to find an advantage after battling with the opposing center-backs in the penalty area for a long time, Mandžukić tried to leave the penalty area and act as a pivot to set up his teammates.
With Mandžukić acting as a pivot, Schweinsteiger, who advanced forward, had several opportunities to shoot, but today he seemed to have forgotten his shooting boots.
Several shots failed to pose a threat, and Werder Bremen's goal remained intact.
As time passed, it quickly came to the 75th minute.
Schaaf made the first substitution, replacing attacking midfielder Hunt with a defender, further strengthening the defense against Mandžukić, preventing him from becoming Bayern's attacking pivot.
Now, Schweinsteiger, who was advancing forward, couldn't find a chance to shoot either.
Bayern's attack seemed to have cooled down.
But Heynckes didn't rush; instead, he waited for a while, observed the status of the players on both sides, and then made a substitution.
He replaced Gustavo with Kroos.
"Tony, after you come on, switch positions with Schweinsteiger. You go to play attacking midfielder, and let him play defensive midfielder."
Kroos remembered the tactics the coach arranged in the dressing room and nodded heavily.
After Kroos came on, Heynckes also called Shaqiri and Gómez to warm up.
He had a hunch that the two sides might play extra time in this match.
If it really went into extra time, then Bayern must score; they couldn't give the opponent a chance to go to penalties.
After Kroos came on, with him and Schweinsteiger as the two organizing cores, Bayern's attack became smoother, and the threat became greater.
For a while, Werder Bremen's goal was under siege.
In the 83rd minute, Kroos' long shot hit the crossbar.
After the ball bounced back, Mandžukić got to the rebound.
But under the defense of the defending players, his lion-like header was a bit off, and the ball was headed away.
This time, Werder Bremen's players were frightened by the attack; they no longer attempted to launch an attack against Bayern, and all retreated to their own half, forming a defensive blockade.
Facing Werder Bremen's defensive blockade, Bayern had no good means; they could only continuously play long balls, passing to Mandžukić in the penalty area.
Mandžukić had been wrestling with several Werder Bremen defenders for the entire game; under this intense confrontation, an ordinary person would have already collapsed.
But he relied on his tenacious fighting spirit and strong willpower to grit his teeth and persist. Every time his teammates passed the ball, regardless of whether he could win the header, he would jump up with all his strength.
In the 92nd minute of the match, Mandžukić got the best chance of the whole game.
After Ribéry dribbled the ball to the byline and made a precise cross, the ball found Mandžukić in the penalty area.
Mandžukić clenched his teeth, exerted fierce force, leaped high, and met the incoming ball.
Through the live camera lens, one could clearly see the bulging veins on his neck and forehead.
This shot, Mandžukić was really going all out!
This header was powerful and of high quality; the ball whistled towards the bottom left corner of Werder Bremen's goal.
Mielitz was somewhat helpless facing this header; although he made a save action, he couldn't reach the ball at all.
It's over! They're going to concede!
Mielitz couldn't help but close his eyes, not daring to watch the scene of conceding.
And the Bayern fans at the Allianz Arena, at the moment when Mandžukić shot, stood up, stretched their necks, and looked at the flying ball in the air.
Seeing the ball pass Mielitz's outstretched fingers, they were ready to celebrate.
But the next second, a green figure appeared in front of the goal, using his body to block the ball outside the goal line.
Seeing the number on the opponent's jersey, the Bayern fans wished they could grind their teeth to pieces! Why you again! It's that damn number ten again! He blocked Bayern's winning goal outside the goal line! At this moment, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the second half, and the game was about to enter extra time!
(End of this chapter)