The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills-Chapter 198 - 58: Into the Final! A Personal Tragedy! The Bundesliga’s Strongest Rookie! Another Victim at Wang Shuo’s Feet
Nowadays, the prevailing opinion in the German media was that Labbadia’s time at Bayer Leverkusen had come to an end.
After losing the DFB-Pokal, there was no longer any chance of him keeping his job this season.
The German media didn’t seem very forgiving toward this young, distinctive manager.
Only the Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote a report speaking up for Labbadia.
Amidst a sea of criticism, it was a breath of fresh air.
But that wasn’t what caught Wang Shuo’s attention.
Rather, he remembered that Labbadia had previously blasted Bayer Leverkusen’s senior executive, Michael Reschke, in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung. A reporter had asked the questions, and Labbadia had answered.
But this was all just standard practice.
Hadn’t Bayer Leverkusen’s Wolle said before that Labbadia had been led astray by his media consultant?
It was obvious that Labbadia had some sort of collaboration with the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
’Come to think of it, all the major media outlets in Germany have their own clear stances.’
’It’s even possible for different reporters at the same newspaper to have different allegiances.’
’That’s why you sometimes see two reports with completely opposite stances published at the same time.’
When Wang Shuo was back in China, he always found this kind of news very strange.
But thinking about it now, it seemed perfectly normal.
’Ultimately, reporters have different loyalties, so naturally, their reporting angles are different. It’s only normal for their attitudes to be completely opposite.’
’And what about the newspaper agency?’
’The agency is just a platform. Its main goals are sales and public attention.’
’To them, what does it matter how their reporters write articles, what they report, or even if their stances are diametrically opposed?’
’Freedom of speech, right?’
Wang Shuo had even heard that German national team players like Podolski and Ballack actually had many reporters they were familiar with, who acted as their mouthpieces.
Sometimes, when it was inconvenient for them to say certain things themselves, they would use these people to speak for them.
Of course, these reporters also enjoyed certain privileges, like being able to follow these stars around, or even attend their private parties and banquets, making it easier to get inside information.
"Thomas Essien was right. The European Football Scene is just a Vanity Fair!"
Mainz was just a small, insignificant team.
But precisely because it was small, it didn’t have all these messy complications.
’But what if I go to a big club?’
’Forget Bayern. Wouldn’t it be the same even at traditional powerhouses like Dortmund, VfL Wolfsburg, or Bayer Leverkusen?’
’Stay true to yourself!’
’Easier said than done.’
...
As Wang Shuo was aimlessly surfing the web, the QQ application running in the background suddenly chimed twice.
He clicked on it and saw a verification request.
A user named "Green Grass by the Field" had sent him a friend request.
But what Wang Shuo found strange was that the user’s gender was listed as female.
"Holy crap, Old Cao is a catfish!"
But it wasn’t a big deal.
Many male netizens, out of a mischievous impulse, chose "female" when registering their QQ accounts. It was said to make it easier to make friends.
Wang Shuo chuckled, directly clicked "accept," and added the friend.
"Are you Wang Shuo?"
Wang Shuo paused for a moment. "How did you know?"
"Oh my god, it’s really you?"
Wang Shuo was puzzled. ’Was it that easy to guess?’
’Couldn’t I just be an international student at Mainz University?’
On second thought, he didn’t recall seeing any Chinese international students at Mainz University. At least, he hadn’t seen any.
"Your QQ name is ’Stone,’ and you said you were in Mainz, Germany. I just guessed it was you, Wang Shuo."
"Oh my god, Wang Shuo, my dad and I are both your fans!"
’My dad and I...’
For some reason, Wang Shuo found that a bit odd.
"Thanks."
"You know what? I’m still in Dusseldorf waiting for a flight right now. When you scored, I was right there in the stands."
Wang Shuo sent a smiley face emoji. "I know. Didn’t you post photos on the forum?"
"I can’t believe it, Wang Shuo, you actually added me as a QQ friend! I can’t... I need to calm down."
"I’m going to go show off on the forum. Don’t worry, I won’t reveal your secret that you’re a lurker."
"I have to call my dad, too. He’ll be so jealous when he finds out."
Wang Shuo immediately switched back to the Chinese sports forum.
And what do you know, Old Cao was fast.
"Fellow fans, can you believe it? I actually added Wang Shuo on QQ!"
The moment the post went up, it immediately attracted a flood of replies.
"Old Cao is the GOAT!"
"Oh my god, Old Cao, hook me up!"
"I’ll pay a high price for the number, Old Cao!"
"Old Cao, you know me. I just want Wang Shuo’s QQ number. Name your price."
"As expected of our Old Cao, you’re freaking awesome!"
"Old Cao, please tell Wang Shuo to give it his all in the final!"
"All 1.4 billion of us in China are supporting him!"
As Wang Shuo read, a warm feeling spread through his chest.
He even felt that he hadn’t done well enough to deserve the affection of such amazing fans.
But he also silently swore to himself that, whether for his own sake or for these fans who supported him, he absolutely had to work harder—twice as hard!
Green Grass by the Field screenshotted the forum comments and forwarded them to Wang Shuo.
Below them, she added another smiley face.
"Everyone likes you and supports you, but please don’t feel any pressure."
"No matter what, we’ll always be your strongest supporters!"
"Keep up the hard work!"
A thousand words swirled in Wang Shuo’s mind, but in the end, they condensed into a single word.
"Thanks!"
