Chapter 142 Goodbye, Werder Bremen! Goodbye, De Bruyne!
"Ah, you're marking me so tightly, looks like I won't score today!" Lin Quan said deliberately as he strolled on the field, glancing at the defender beside him.
Hearing this, Marcus, who was marking Lin Quan, sneered, "You know it well. Today, you'd better behave yourself and forget about scoring. I'll mark you to death, not giving you any chance..."
Before Marcus could finish his sentence, he saw Lin Quan, who was just strolling, suddenly start moving swiftly past him!
Damn it! Fell for it! This guy's words just now were meant to distract me!
Marcus realized he had been tricked by Lin Quan. But at this moment, his marked player had already shaken off his defense, received the pass from De Bruyne near the center circle, and dashed towards Nuremberg's half!
The two Nuremberg players left at the center circle saw Lin Quan evade their teammates' defense and rushed towards him almost instantly.
However, with Lin Quan's speed fully unleashed, stopping him now wasn't as easy as before.
Faced with the two approaching defenders, Lin Quan first used a feint to bypass one, then passed the ball to De Bruyne, and with a give-and-go, he dodged the other defender.
After getting past these two Nuremberg players, he found a clear path ahead of him.
The remaining defenders from the opposition were mostly inside and outside Nuremberg's penalty area, quite a distance away from him.
"Stop him!" Nuremberg's coach, seeing Lin Quan dribbling towards their half, jumped up from the bench, pointing at Lin Quan and shouting loudly at his players.
The two Nuremberg players outside the penalty area almost simultaneously rushed forward, attempting to snatch the damn ball from Lin Quan's feet.
But Lin Quan's footwork was too quick, too agile. They were like clumsy bears, rushing forward only to be toyed with by Lin Quan, unable to steal the ball from under his feet.
"Fools, foul him! Quick, foul him!" Nuremberg's coach was frustrated. These idiots were trying to snatch the ball instead of committing a foul to stop that kid!
With Lin Quan's dribbling skills, how could they easily take the ball from him?
At this moment, the coach's voice was loud enough for nearby spectators to hear clearly.
Hearing him instructing Nuremberg players to foul Lin Quan, the Werder Bremen fans immediately booed him and his team.
On the field, Lin Quan also heard the opposing coach's shout.
Seeing the Nuremberg players rushing towards him like mad, trying to prevent him from breaking the record, he didn't act rashly but immediately shifted sideways, continuing to dribble along the edge of the penalty area.
The Nuremberg players, seeing Lin Quan change direction, also followed suit and chased after him.
From the aerial view, Lin Quan seemed like a general inspecting the enemy's defense line. Wherever he went, the opponents followed.
Until he got past Nuremberg's left back and entered the penalty area, the Nuremberg players panicked.
Oh no, he's entering the penalty area, we can't foul him easily now!
Actually, when Lin Quan shifted sideways earlier, they had a chance to foul him.
But if they fouled him there, it could easily give the opponent an excellent free-kick opportunity.
Lin Quan had a record of scoring directly from free kicks in the Bundesliga. If they gave him a good free-kick chance, they might concede a goal.
But their hesitation gave Lin Quan the opportunity to enter the penalty area.
Now, they were truly scared.
If fouling him outside the penalty area might result in a free-kick or a card, fouling him inside would mean a penalty!
With Lin Quan's penalty success rate, giving him a penalty was almost like giving him a goal.
So, the Nuremberg players were too scared to tackle or even touch him.
At this point, not only did they dare not foul Lin Quan, but they even felt that he was trying to provoke them. They wanted to step back, to prove their innocence, to avoid being mistakenly judged by the blind referee!
Lin Quan had initially prepared to fiercely fight if the opponents marked him too tightly and left him no space to score. But now that they hesitated, he didn't hesitate anymore!
After entering the penalty area, he glanced at the goalkeeper's position, lifted his foot to make a shooting motion towards the far corner.
Seeing Lin Quan aiming for the far corner, the goalkeeper immediately moved towards it, squatting down and preparing for a save.
Meanwhile, Nuremberg's defenders, seeing Lin Quan about to shoot, finally couldn't hold back anymore. They immediately slid down to block his shot.
Lin Quan noticed the movements of the defenders and the goalkeeper. He withdrew his right foot, tapped the ball with his left foot, and as the ball rose, he quickly jumped up, evading the defenders' sliding tackles.
The goalkeeper saw the ball temporarily out of the reach of the Nuremberg players and rushed towards Lin Quan.
But Lin Quan was faster than him. As soon as he landed, before the ball hit the ground, he shot directly in mid-air. The ball, like a bullet leaving the barrel, whizzed past the goalkeeper's fingers and crashed into the net!
Goal number 41! The Bundesliga record that had been sealed for 40 years was finally broken at this moment!
After scoring, Lin Quan excitedly pounded his chest, roaring as he ran towards the sidelines.
When he reached the sidelines, he took off his jersey, revealing the vest underneath.
The photographers on the sidelines immediately aimed their cameras at Lin Quan's white vest, which had a line of text in German:
"Long live Werder Bremen!"
Even though he had only played for Werder Bremen for one season, it was here, with this team, that he truly stepped into the top five leagues and achieved his current success.
During this season fighting alongside his teammates here, he left behind many precious and beautiful memories.
So, even if he was leaving, he would forever love this team, love this pitch!
The audience had been waiting for this goal for too long. Seeing Lin Quan score, they erupted in cheers.
And upon seeing the words on Lin Quan's vest, many Werder Bremen fans couldn't help but shed tears.
They were reluctant to see Lin Quan leave. If possible, they would want him to keep wearing the number 10 jersey, playing here until the day he retired!
They hoped Lin Quan could become their legend!
But these were unrealistic wishes.
He was just a loaned player from a top club, not their club's player.
Once the loan contract expired, they would have to part ways.
Thinking of this, countless fans couldn't help but feel sad.
But as they shed tears, they also applauded Lin Quan.
...
Watching this touching scene, Guardiola in the box also couldn't help but choke up a bit.
He remembered when he left Camp Nou and went to Serie A to seek his fortune.
On that day, as he was about to leave Camp Nou, he must have felt the same as Lin Quan now, right?
This game had lost its suspense even before Lin Quan scored, and his goal not only changed the score to 4-0 but also broke Gerd Müller's record.
So, the Nuremberg players no longer had the mindset of defending fiercely.
Their previous tight marking on Lin Quan was mainly to avoid becoming the background for the opponent's record-breaking moment.
Now, they had become the background, and their fighting spirit had long gone.
Since the match was almost over, after it ended, they would start a long vacation of over a month.
Instead of wasting energy on a game destined to fail, it would be better to spend some time thinking about where to go on holiday!
The opponents were so lax that they didn't even mark him anymore. Lin Quan felt somewhat underestimated!
Are you looking down on me, the record holder of Bundesliga goals?
The Nuremberg players had already surrendered, but Werder Bremen hadn't given up attacking!
Although Lin Quan had already broken the Bundesliga goal-scoring record, who said he couldn't continue to break his own record? And his teammates seemed to understand this very well, so they kept passing the ball to Lin Quan, trying to help him refresh the record.
Lin Quan didn't disappoint his teammates' good intentions.
In the 78th minute of the match, Werder Bremen took advantage of a mistake by Nuremberg's midfielder Simons, snatched the ball from his feet, and quickly passed it to Lin Quan.
The reaction from Nuremberg was a bit slow, with no one immediately intercepting.
When Lin Quan received the ball, he had already entered the penalty area, giving him a chance to take on the goalkeeper.
Facing the onrushing goalkeeper, Lin Quan deftly lifted the ball with his foot, shooting it over the goalkeeper's head and into the net.
5-0!
This was also Lin Quan's 42nd goal in the Bundesliga this season, breaking his own record.
This goal once again elicited enthusiastic cheers from the fans, expressing their congratulations and admiration for Lin Quan with applause and cheers.
With 42 goals in a single season, it would be difficult for future players to surpass this achievement!
Considering Lin Quan's age when he achieved this record, it was almost certain that this record would stand unbroken!
Werder Bremen fans laughed, while Nuremberg players were furious!
Scoring one goal was enough, why keep coming?
Are we just soft targets for you to toy with?
So, they resumed their strict defense against Lin Quan!
However, the same problem as the first half arose: even if they stopped Lin Quan, they couldn't stop his teammates!
During injury time, Lin Quan provided an assist to De Bruyne, helping him complete a hat-trick and scoring his final goal in the Bundesliga.
It was also the last direct cooperation between the two in the Bundesliga.
In the end, with De Bruyne's hat-trick and Lin Quan's brace, Werder Bremen thrashed Nuremberg 6-0 at home.
At the sound of the halftime whistle, Werder Bremen fans stood up collectively, applauding to express their gratitude to all the team members who had given them a wonderful game.
Under the leadership of captain Fritz, the Werder Bremen players also circled the pitch, thanking the fans who came to support them.
Finally, as he left the field, Lin Quan bent down and kissed the grass of the Weser Stadium, bidding farewell to this place.
After this departure, the next time he came here, he might be challenging as an opponent.
He hoped that those fans who had once supported him wouldn't boo him.
Journalists captured this scene, and some fans who hadn't left yet saw it too.
They didn't say anything, but they told themselves in their hearts: Lin Quan will always be a part of Werder Bremen, even if he leaves, it won't change!
For the journalists present, the result of this match wasn't important.
The bond between fans and players could be reported, but it wasn't that important.
The most important thing was whether Lin Quan scored, whether he broke the Bundesliga record.
That was the real big news!
And Lin Quan didn't disappoint, successfully breaking the record, satisfying the journalists who had been eagerly awaiting it.
After the game, Lin Quan was taken to the press conference by Shauf.
Facing the questions from the journalists, he patiently answered most of them.
As for those questions that he couldn't answer or wasn't convenient to answer, such as which team he would join next season, whether he would renew with Barcelona, or whether he would stay in the Bundesliga, he didn't answer.
"All right, that's it for today's press conference. Thank you all for coming, see you next season!"
After answering his questions, Shauf stood up, greeted the journalists, and left with Lin Quan.
On the way back to the dressing room, Shauf seemed to have something to say.
But in the end, he didn't say it.
"From the look on your face, it seems like you didn't say it after all?"
Instead of going to the dressing room, Shauf returned to his office.
Allofs had been waiting here for him, seeing the expression on Shauf's face, he guessed that Shauf hadn't said what he wanted to remind him of.
"Yeah, I didn't say it!"
Shauf shook his head, he really couldn't bring himself to say those words.
"Hehe, if you didn't say it, we might be in for a tough time next season."
Allofs shook his head, chuckled self-deprecatingly, and left Shauf's office.
Seeing the figure of his old partner leaving, Shauf couldn't help but feel doubtful:
Will Lin really go to Bayern Munich?
...
When Lin Quan returned to the dressing room, he saw De Bruyne waiting for him outside.
"Do you need me for something?"
Opening the door to the dressing room, he found that all his teammates had left after showering.
The spacious locker room seemed quite empty, with only his voice echoing inside.
He silently walked to his locker, gently touching the label on it, and then tearing off the tag with his name on it.
He wouldn't be coming back here again, this locker had to be vacated for the new teammates.
Hehe, it couldn't be considered teammates anymore, it should be said to be new Werder Bremen players.
De Bruyne was doing the same thing, and after finishing, he took out a football from his backpack and handed it to Lin Quan.
"What's this?"
Lin Quan was puzzled, looking at De Bruyne.
"According to our agreement, the first goal after I scored a hat-trick, I'm giving it to you!"
De Bruyne had been trying hard this season, but he couldn't complete a hat-trick. It wasn't until this last game, with the opponents tightly marking Lin Quan, that he finally found an opportunity to complete a hat-trick.
Although it was a bit late, it was better than not fulfilling the agreement before leaving.
Lin Quan was a little dazed, remembering the hat-trick he completed against Bayern Munich in the first game of the Telekom Cup last year.
After that game, he wrote his name and the date on the football and gave it to De Bruyne.
So on this football...
He glanced at it and indeed saw De Bruyne's neatly written name and the date of the match, along with a line of small characters:
"To my dearest friend Lin Quan - De Bruyne!"
(End of this chapter)