20 First Appearance, Wearing the Number 10 Jersey!
Seeing all these things excited Lin Quan.
Just imagine, how terrifying an injury-free Messi with limitless energy would be. While retaining the explosiveness and breakthrough ability from 12 years ago, he now also has added 19 years of organizational and scheduling abilities. How well-rounded would he be? That would be a direct rise to godhood, right? And this, under the system's influence, is the complete future strength of Lin Quan.
He seemed to have seen himself activating these talents and becoming a terrifying demon king on the field! The match continued, with Werder Bremen's attacking waves intensifying.
After overcoming the initial tension, the performance of the team's young players visibly improved.
Especially, De Bruyne, commanding the midfield, gave a remarkable performance.
For almost the entire first half, it was practically De Bruyne's personal performance stage. He repeatedly created threatening opportunities with his excellent vision and passing.
However, the forward, Nils Petersen, on loan from Bayern Munich, seemed to have forgotten his shooting boots at home, squandering several golden opportunities, leaving even De Bruyne sighing and holding his head in disbelief.
In addition to playing a significant role in the attacking phase, De Bruyne also made outstanding contributions on the defensive end.
Having undergone one-on-one training with Lin Quan for so many days, although he still couldn't stop Lin Quan, his defensive abilities had significantly improved compared to before. His active chasing and interceptions in the attacking half several times nipped the opponents' counterattacks in the bud.
For an ordinary player, breaking through his defense wouldn't be that simple.
This made several coaches on Werder Bremen's coaching bench very surprised!
"This kid seems stronger than during team training!"
"Yes, his attacking ability is already top-notch. I didn't expect him to have such outstanding defensive capabilities!"
"His proactive tackling, lack of fear in challenges, and tireless running remind me of a player!"
"Who?"
"Karel Poborsky!"
Hearing this name, everyone's hearts skipped a beat.
The Czech iron man was an all-around warrior, the symbol of tirelessness.
Did Schaaf really hold De Bruyne in such high regard?
"However, this is just a friendly match. We still need to continue to observe. If - and I mean if - his performance continues to be outstanding, then maybe it won't be so difficult for us to avoid relegation in the new season!"
Everyone nodded in agreement. They had loaned three players this season. Nils Petersen's performance had been mediocre, but De Bruyne had brought them a huge surprise. Now, the only remaining player from Barcelona had yet to make an appearance. If Lin Quan's performance could exceed expectations, then maybe the goal of avoiding relegation could indeed be achieved in the new season!
Cottbus quickly realized the threat posed by De Bruyne and strengthened their defense against him. This significantly reduced De Bruyne's ability to create threats and during counterattacks, they consciously circumvented the middle, launching attacks from the flanks.
This move quickly proved effective. After several threatening counterattacks, Werder Bremen's wingers became more cautious and defensive. They were less willing to participate in attacks, instead putting a lot of effort into defending. With the absence of the wingers' participation, Werder Bremen's attack also started to lose its threat.
As a result, the situation on the field turned into a stalemate.
The first half ended with the score still 0:0. Neither side was able to break through the opposing team's goal.
On the sideline, Coach Schaaf stood up and led the way to the locker room. He had realized the team's problem on the flanks and was ready to make adjustments.
...
Matches of this level of pre-season usually receive very little attention here in Asia.
Especially when the AFC U23 Championship matches are in full swing, most spectators choose to watch matches involving their national teams, as they feel more involved.
Therefore, on a domestic live-streaming platform, only one niche football-loving streamer was broadcasting this match. At the same time, no less than ten streamers opted to broadcast another AFC U23 Championship match between the Chinese U22 team and the North Korean team. The difference in attention between the two matches was quite evident. The audience who watched this friendly match mainly included Werder Bremen fans and some who enjoyed watching European leagues but had no matches to watch due to the top five leagues not starting yet.
During the halftime break, the audience and the streamer engaged in some casual conversation:
"Hey, why are you broadcasting a friendly match of a Bundesliga team when everyone else is streaming the national team's match? Look, no one's watching!"
Seeing the audience's question, the streamer replied with a smile, "I have a weak heart. I'm afraid my heart can't take watching the national team matches!"
When everyone heard his response, the audience in the live-stream room laughed.
In recent years, the national team's strength has declined, and their match results have plummeted. Especially last year, the highly anticipated national team didn't even make it past the group stage of the Asian Cup, which deeply hurt the fans.
"Damn it, the rubbish national team can't even win against North Korea!"
"Ridiculous, give us our money back!"
"National team, are you even worthy of us?"
"Their skills are inferior, and their attitude is subpar. What's the point of playing? Go home and raise pigs!"
"These guys make me angry just watching them play!"
"I think the national team is completely finished!"
"Hey, you're just realizing that now? Hasn't the national team been finished for a long time?"
...
The conversation was going smoothly, but suddenly a large group of new viewers flooded into the live stream room.
These viewers, upon entering the live stream room, didn't even pay attention to the match and went straight to the comment section to unleash a torrent of abuse.
Huang Wei saw the number of viewers in his live stream room rapidly increasing, which initially made him happy.
But when he looked at the comments, they were all abusive. This scared him.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed that these people were not insulting him, but rather, they were criticizing the national team. This puzzled him.
So, he glanced at the score next door.
As expected, the national team was once again trailing!
In the 43rd minute of the first half, North Korea scored a goal, and the national team was currently behind 1-0.
On the other side, as they saw the national team falling behind North Korea, a large number of viewers who had been watching the national team's match left the live stream room, complaining, and joined the previously unpopular live stream room next door.
"Come and cleanse your eyes with some high-quality European-level matches!"
"Eyes-cleansing +1!"
"Eyes-cleansing +2!"
"Guys, the pre-season match of a Bundesliga team is much more comfortable to watch than the national team's match, isn't it?"
"Yeah, without some quick-acting heart medicine, who would watch the national team?"
...
All of a sudden, many new viewers arrived. Huang Wei felt both excited and nervous, so he brought out all his spirit and began to earnestly commentate.
He looked through the information about the two teams and suddenly exclaimed, "In Werder Bremen's squad, there's a young player whose name looks like it's of Chinese origin, and it seems like he was loaned from Barcelona!"
"Wow, really, a player from Barcelona, Messi's teammate? Amazing!"
"Ha, I guess they bought him to be a mascot?"
"Come on, can a team like Barcelona need a mascot?"
"Does he act like a mascot? We'll find out if he gets to play in the match. If he continues to sit on the bench without getting a chance to play, then he's undoubtedly the team mascot!"
Within the audience's questioning and anticipation, the second half of the match began.
Werder Bremen made a personnel change by sending in Lin Quan, wearing the number 10 jersey, and taking out the number 11 forward, Elia.
When the audience saw the number on Lin Quan's jersey, the livestream room erupted.
"Wow, number 10 jersey, is this an attempt to develop him as the core?"
"Graduated from La Masia's youth academy, plays as a forward, and even wears the number 10 jersey. He's like Messi!"
"Similar height too!"
"Just nine years younger than Messi, a perfect successor!"
"Let's see if this Messi successor can really fill Messi's shoes!"
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Alright, I won't drop, I just didn't think that this fanfiction had much readers.
